School of Physics and Technology and MOE Key Laboratory of Artificial Micro- and Nano-structures and ‡Center for Electron Microscopy, Wuhan University , Wuhan 430072, China.
ACS Appl Mater Interfaces. 2016 Nov 16;8(45):31256-31263. doi: 10.1021/acsami.6b11678. Epub 2016 Nov 1.
Due to its unique hierarchical structure, natural spider silk features exceptional mechanical properties such as high tensile strength and great extensibility, making it one of the toughest materials. Herein, we design bioinspired spider silk single-walled carbon nanotubes (BISS-SWCNTs) that combine the hierarchical structure of spider silk and the high strength and conductivity of SWCNTs. To imitate the hierarchical structure, Fe nanoparticles are embedded on the surface of directly synthesized SWCNTs skeleton followed by coating an amorphous carbon layer. The carbon layer forms the spider silk-featured skin-core structure with SWCNTs, thus making the tube junction tougher. The embedded Fe nanoparticles act as glue spots for preventing interfacial slippages between the BISS-SWCNTs and the reinforced matrix. With only 2.1 wt % BISS-SWCNTs added, the tensile strength and Young's modulus of the BISS-SWCNTs/PMMA composites can be improved by 300%. More importantly, the BISS-SWCNTs also retain the high conductivity and transmittance of the pristine SWCNTs film. This unique bioinspired material will be of great importance in applications of multifunctional composite materials and has important implications for the future of biomimetic materials.
由于其独特的分层结构，天然蜘蛛丝具有出色的机械性能，如高强度和高弹性，使其成为最坚韧的材料之一。在这里，我们设计了仿生蜘蛛丝单壁碳纳米管（BISS-SWCNTs），它结合了蜘蛛丝的分层结构和 SWCNTs 的高强度和导电性。为了模仿分层结构，在直接合成的 SWCNTs 骨架表面嵌入了 Fe 纳米颗粒，然后涂覆了非晶碳层。碳层与 SWCNTs 形成了蜘蛛丝状的皮-芯结构，从而使管接头更加坚固。嵌入的 Fe 纳米颗粒作为胶点，防止 BISS-SWCNTs 与增强基质之间的界面滑动。只需添加 2.1wt%的 BISS-SWCNTs，BISS-SWCNTs/PMMA 复合材料的拉伸强度和杨氏模量就可以提高 300%。更重要的是，BISS-SWCNTs 还保留了原始 SWCNTs 薄膜的高导电性和透光率。这种独特的仿生材料在多功能复合材料的应用中具有重要意义，对仿生材料的未来具有重要意义。
