Abstract
Silkworm silk fiber is an attractive material owing to its remarkable mechanical characteristics, excellent optical properties, and good biocompatibility and biodegradability. However, nano-processing of the silk fiber is still a challenge limiting its applications in nanoengineering and related fields. Herein, we report localized near-field enhancement-assisted ablation with an ultrafast laser to break this bottleneck. Localized processing of silk fiber, including nano-holing, nano-grooving, and cutting could retain the key molecular structure building blocks and the pristine functionality of the silk fiber. An extremely narrow nanohole with a width of ∼64 nm was successfully achieved. The processed silk fiber can be used to transfer micro/nanoparticles and drugs, showing potential for biomedical engineering. The processing strategy developed in this study can also be extended to other materials, paving a new way for fabricating functional nanostructures with precisely controlled size and morphology.
摘要
桑蚕丝因具有突出的力学性能、 优异的光学特性和良好的生物相容性而备受关注. 但目前尚缺乏对单根天然蚕丝进行纳米级加工的手段, 因而限制了蚕丝在纳米工程等领域的应用. 本文利用局部近场增强超快激光在蚕丝表面实现了纳米级加工, 并进一步实现了纳米孔、 纳米槽的制备以及对蚕丝的精密切割. 形貌和成分测试结果表明, 该方法在不破坏蚕丝关键分子结构模块和原有功能的前提下实现了最小宽度仅为64 nm椭圆孔的加工. 此外, 本文还将超快激光加工的蚕丝用于微纳颗粒、 药物输运, 预示了本方法在生物医学工程领域的广泛应用前景. 本文所报道的近场增强超快激光加工方法不仅可用于蚕丝的纳米级加工, 也有望在其他材料上实现高精度、 可控制备功能性纳米结构.
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Acknowledgements
We thank Maosheng Chai, Shuang Li, and Dr. Han Li for the help with experimental tests. We thank Dr. Baihui Liang, Dr. Taotao Sun, Dr. Hengqian Hu, and Dr. Chuang Li for the experimental assistance and discussions. We acknowledge the support from the National Key R&D Program of China (2017YFB1104300, 2016YFA0200103 and 2018YFB1107200), the National Program for the Support of Top-notch Young Professionals, and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (51775303).
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Author contributions Qiao M and Wang H contributed equally to this work. Yan J and Zhang Y supervised the project. Qiao M contributed to the nano-processing of silk fibers, mechanism analysis, and simulations. Wang H and Qiao M conducted the characterization of SEM. Wang H contributed to the AFM characterization, Raman measurements, XPS analysis, and microparticle transfer experiment. Lu H performed the mechanical measurements. Li S prepared the degummed silk fibers. Qu L, Jiang L and Lu Y guided the theoretical analysis part. Wang H, Qiao M, Yan J and Zhang Y co-wrote the paper with feedback from all authors.
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Conflict of interest The authors declare no conflict of interest.
Ming Qiao received his master’s degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences in 2015. He is currently a PhD candidate at the Department of Mechanical Engineering, Tsinghua University. His research interests focus on femtosecond laser and micro/nano fabrication.
Huimin Wang received his BSc degree in inorganic nonmetallic material engineering from Jilin University in 2016. He is currently a PhD candidate at the Department of Chemistry, Tsinghua University, China. His current research interest focuses on nanocarbon, silk, and their hybrid materials and their applications in flexible electronics.
Jianfeng Yan received his PhD from the Department of Mechanical Engineering, Tsinghua University in 2013. He is currently an associate professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Tsinghua University. His research interests are mainly focused on ultrafast laser and micro/nano fabrication.
Yingying Zhang received her PhD degree in physical chemistry from Peking University in 2007. From June 2008 to June 2011, she worked at Los Alamos National Laboratory (USA) as a postdoctoral research associate. Then, she joined Tsinghua University as an associate professor in July of 2011. Her research focuses on the design and controlled preparation of nanocarbon, silk, and their hybrid materials, aiming to develop high-performance flexible electronics and wearable systems.
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Qiao, M., Wang, H., Lu, H. et al. Micro/nano processing of natural silk fibers with near-field enhanced ultrafast laser. Sci. China Mater. 63, 1300–1309 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40843-020-1351-3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40843-020-1351-3