Modulating water-responsive actuation energy of regenerated silk fibroin <i>via</i> tyrosine modification.

Khan, Maheen K; Athiyarath, Vignesh; Podbevšek, Darjan; Jung, Yeojin; Kim, Seungri; Zhang, Yuchen; Kilavuz-Ecker, Gonca; Tu, Raymond S et al. · Soft Matter · 2025

basic_science · Level V

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Abstract

Water-responsive actuation energy density of regenerated silk fibroin is doubled through tyrosine residue modification, increasing from 1.6 MJ m<sup>-3</sup> to 3.5 MJ m<sup>-3</sup>. FTIR spectroscopy showed the modification results in a higher proportion of mobile water, suggesting that water-responsive performance of regenerated silk is highly sensitive to the properties of confined water and that tyrosine residue modification could serve as a scalable method for developing silk-based WR actuators.

Medical subject headings