Modulating Water-Responsive Actuation Energy of Regenerated Silk Fibroin via Tyrosine Modification

Abstract

Water-responsive actuation energy density of regenerated silk fibroin is doubled through tyrosine residue modification, increasing from 1.6 MJ m-3 to 3.5 MJ m-3. 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.