Scientists use modified silk proteins to create new nonstick surfaces

Researchers at Tufts University, Massachusetts, have developed a method to make silk-based materials that refuse to stick to water, or almost anything else containing water.

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The modified silk, which can be molded into forms like plastic or coated onto surfaces as a film, has nonstick properties that surpass those of nonstick surfaces typically used on cookware, and it could see applications that extend into a wide range of consumer and medical products.

Silk is a natural fiber spun by moths and has been used for thousands of years to make durable and fine fabrics—and surgical sutures to close wounds.

More recently, scientists have learned to break down the fibers to their basic protein element—silk fibroin—and reconstitute it into gels, films, sponges, and other forms to create everything from implantable orthopedic screws to textile inks that change color in response to body chemistry.

“What makes silk such a unique material is that not only can it take on a wide range of forms and shapes, but one can easily change its properties by chemically modifying the silk fibroin,” said Krishna Kumar, Robinson Professor of Chemistry at Tufts.