Polysaccharides play a variety of roles in nature, including molecular recognition and water retention. The microscale structures of polysaccharides are seldom utilized in vitro because of the difficulties in regulating self-assembled structures. Herein, it is demonstrated that a cyanobacterial polysaccharide, sacran, can hierarchically self-assemble as twisted fibers from nanoscale to microscale with diameters of ≈1 µm and lengths >800 µm that are remarkably larger than polysaccharides previously reported. Unlike other rigid fibrillar polysaccharides, the sacran fiber is capable of flexibly transforming into two-dimensional (2D) snaking and three-dimensional (3D) twisted structures at an evaporative air–water interface. Furthermore, a vapor-sensitive film with a millisecond-scale response time is developed from the crosslinked polymer due to the spring-like behavior of twisted structures. This study increases understanding of the functions of fibers in nature and establishes a novel approach to the design of environmentally adaptive materials for soft sensors and actuators.
CITATION STYLE
Budpud, K., Okeyoshi, K., Okajima, M. K., & Kaneko, T. (2020). Vapor-Sensitive Materials from Polysaccharide Fibers with Self-Assembling Twisted Microstructures. Small, 16(29). https://doi.org/10.1002/smll.202001993
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