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Article
Hydrogen Bonding-Assisted Thermal Conduction in β-sheet Crystals of Spider Silk Protein
Nanoscale
  • L. Zhang
  • T. Chen
  • Heng Ban, Utah State University
  • L. Liu
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
1-1-2014
Abstract

Using atomistic simulations, we demonstrate that β-sheet, an essential component of spider silk protein, has a thermal conductivity 1–2 orders of magnitude higher than that of some other protein structures reported in the literature. In contrast to several other nanostructured materials of similar bundled/layered structures (e.g. few-layer graphene and bundled carbon nanotubes), the β-sheet is found to uniquely feature enhanced thermal conductivity with an increased number of constituting units, i.e. β-strands. Phonon analysis identifies inter-β-strand hydrogen bonding as the main contributor to the intriguing phenomenon, which prominently influences the state of phonons in both low- and high-frequency regimes. A thermal resistance model further verifies the critical role of hydrogen bonding in thermal conduction through β-sheet structures.

Citation Information
L. Zhang, T. Chen, Heng Ban and L. Liu. "Hydrogen Bonding-Assisted Thermal Conduction in β-sheet Crystals of Spider Silk Protein" Nanoscale Iss. 6 (2014) p. 7786 - 7791
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/heng-ban/56/