A translation of the structure of mussel byssal threads into synthetic materials by the utilization of histidine-rich block copolymers

Journal article (2018)

Authors

Marcel Enke Friedrich Schiller University Jena
R.K. Bose Novel Aerospace Materials - Aerospace Engineering
Stefan Zechel Friedrich Schiller University Jena
Jürgen Vitz Friedrich Schiller University Jena
Robert Deubler Friedrich Schiller University Jena
Santiago J. Garcia Novel Aerospace Materials - Aerospace Engineering
S. van der Zwaag Novel Aerospace Materials - Aerospace Engineering
Felix H. Schacher Friedrich Schiller University Jena
Martin D. Hager Friedrich Schiller University Jena
Ulrich S. Schubert Friedrich Schiller University Jena
Research Group
Novel Aerospace Materials (Aerospace Engineering) (TU Delft)
Copyright: © 2018 Marcel Enke, R.K. Bose, Stefan Zechel, Jürgen Vitz, Robert Deubler, Santiago J. Garcia, S. van der Zwaag, Felix H. Schacher, Martin D. Hager, Ulrich S. Schubert
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1039/c8py00663f
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Published Date

07-07-2018

Language

English

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Faculty

Aerospace Engineering

Department

Aerospace Structures & Materials

Research Group

Novel Aerospace Materials

Abstract

Mussel byssal threads are well-known due to their self-healing ability after the mechanical stress caused by waves. The proposed mechanism demonstrates the importance of reversible histidine-metal interactions as well as the block copolymer-like hierarchical architecture of the underlying protein structure. Taking these two aspects as inspiration for the design of synthetic analogs, different histidine-rich block copolymers were synthesized via reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) polymerization. The hard domain was mimicked using polystyrene and the soft domain consists of n-butyl acrylate (BA) as well as histidine moieties as ligands. The block copolymers were crosslinked using different zinc(ii) salts and the resulting metallopolymers were investigated with respect to their self-healing abilities. The observed two-step mechanism of the self-healing process was studied in detail. Furthermore, the mechanical properties were determined by nanoindentation and were correlated with other results.

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