Perfect union of protein and gel creates hyperexpandable crystals

Baneyx, François

doi:10.1038/d41586-018-04956-x

NEWS AND VIEWS
02 May 2018

Perfect union of protein and gel creates hyperexpandable crystals

An absorbent gel has been integrated into the void space of a protein crystal to yield a remarkable self-healing material — it recovers its molecular order after several cycles of expansion and contraction.

François Baneyx ⁰

François Baneyx
1. François Baneyx is in the Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195, USA.
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In the best marriages, each partner brings attributes to the union that makes it both stronger and greater than the sum of its parts. In a paper in Nature, Zhang et al.¹ have achieved such a feat in the field of materials science. They have wed protein crystals to polymeric gels to create a self-healing hybrid material that can undergo multiple cycles of hyperexpansion and contraction without losing its ability to return to its original crystalline state. Such dynamic assemblies hold great promise for applications such as sensors, separators and actuators (devices that convert energy into movement), but have thus far been difficult to produce.

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Nature 557, 38-39 (2018)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-018-04956-x

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