Fig. 1
From: Polymorphic regenerated silk fibers assembled through bioinspired spinning
The natural and bioinspired spinning process. a Illustration of a silkworm spinning gland divided into three parts according to the evolution of silk protein during spinning. b Schematic model of the natural silk fiber assembly mechanism occurring along the spinning apparatus. The scheme is adapted from ref. 28, with permission from Elsevier. The silk proteins are synthesized in the tail and are transferred to ampulla with increased concentration. In this region, the silk proteins are assembled to micelle-like configurations with anisotropic liquid-crystalline properties. Finally, silk fiber formation occurs under shear stress and dehydration conditions during pulling out the nematic silk proteins from the spigot. c Illustration of the bioinspired spinning process. The nematic silk microfibril solution can be directly assembled into RSFs without additional treatment. d Schematic of the SMF evolutionary process during spinning. The SMFs are aligned in the spinning jet (or fiber) axis direction under the shear/stress elongation. e Schematic of the hierarchical structure of RSFs. There are at least five structural hierarchy levels in RSF
