title: Bionanocomposites: differential effects of cellulose nanocrystals on protein diblock copolymers.
abstract: We investigate the effects of mixing a colloidal suspension of tunicate-derived cellulose nanocrystals (t-CNCs) with aqueous colloidal suspensions of two protein diblock copolymers, EC and CE, which bear two different self-assembling domains (SADs) derived from elastin (E) and the coiled-coil region of cartilage oligomeric matrix protein (C). The resulting aqueous mixtures reveal improved mechanical integrity for the CE+t-CNC mixture, which exhibits an elastic gel network. This is in contrast to EC+t-CNC, which does not form a gel, indicating that block orientation influences the ability to interact with t-CNCs. Surface analysis and interfacial characterization indicate that the differential mechanical properties of the two samples are due to the prevalent display of the E domain by CE, which interacts more with t-CNCs leading to a stronger network with t-CNCs. On the other hand, EC, which is predominantly C-rich on its surface, does not interact as much with t-CNCs. This suggests that the surface characteristics of the protein polymers, due to folding and self-assembly, are important factors for the interactions with t-CNCs, and a significant influence on the overall mechanical properties. These results have interesting implications for the understanding of cellulose hydrophobic interactions, natural biomaterials and the development of artificially assembled bionanocomposites.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Polytechnic Institute of New York University , Brooklyn, New York 11201, United States.
authors.forename: Jennifer S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Haghpanah
authors.forename: Raymond
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Tu
authors.forename: Sandra
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Da Silva
authors.forename: Deng
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Yan
authors.forename: Silvana
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Mueller
authors.forename: Christoph
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Weder
authors.forename: E Johan
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: Foster
authors.forename: Iulia
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Sacui
authors.forename: Jeffery W
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Gilman
authors.forename: Jin Kim
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Montclare
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001672:Biocompatible Materials / Q000737:chemistry; D064236:Cartilage Oligomeric Matrix Protein / Q000737:chemistry*; D002482:Cellulose / Q000737:chemistry*; D003102:Colloids; D055119:Elastic Modulus; D004549:Elastin / Q000737:chemistry*; D057927:Hydrophobic and Hydrophilic Interactions; D008422:Materials Testing; D053761:Nanocomposites / Q000737:chemistry*; D053758:Nanoparticles / Q000737:chemistry*; D010446:Peptide Fragments / Q000737:chemistry*; D017433:Protein Structure, Secondary; D013499:Surface Properties; D014561:Urochordata
chemical_list: D001672:Biocompatible Materials; D064236:Cartilage Oligomeric Matrix Protein; D003102:Colloids; D010446:Peptide Fragments; D002482:Cellulose; D004549:Elastin