Functional biomaterial coatings for textiles and other substrates

Abstract

In some aspects, the inventive subject matter contemplates providing a substrate; providing a biomaterial to be affixed to the substrate; and subjecting the substrate and biomaterial to reactive species from a plasma generated by an atmospheric plasma apparatus until the biomaterial affixes to the substrate. The biomaterial may be silk or wool polypeptide. The biomaterial is deposited as a monomeric film on the surface of the substrate before the substrate is subjected to the reactive species of the plasma. Once the substrate with the film of biomaterial is subjected to the reactive species, the reactive species facilitates the polymerization of the film as a coating on the underlying portion of substrate. The resulting coated substrates are novel constructs that have improved attributes based on the biomaterial selected for use. For example, silk proteins may be used improve the hand or strength of textile materials.

1 . A method of treating a substrate, comprising
 providing a substrate;   providing a biomaterial to be affixed to the substrate; and   subjecting the substrate and biomaterial to reactive species from a plasma generated by an atmospheric plasma apparatus until the biomaterial affixes to the substrate.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the substrate includes biomaterial that is deposited as a monomeric film on the surface of the substrate before the substrate is subjected to reactive species of the plasma, and wherein once the substrate with the monomeric film of biomaterial is subjected to the reactive species, the reactive species facilitates the polymerization of the film as a coating on the underlying portion of substrate. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , comprising depositing the biomaterial as a film on the substrate after the substrate is placed in a chamber of the plasma apparatus, wherein the pressure in the chamber is between 500 Torr and 1000 Torr, and wherein the biomaterial is affixed to the substrate by a covalent bond. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the biomaterial is fed into the plasma-generating electrical field of plasma apparatus and the biomaterial and/or surface sites on the substrate are transformed into reactive species such that the biomaterial and substrate bond together. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , comprising producing, by the plasma apparatus, a discharge at power densities between 0.25 W/cm 3  and 4 W/cm 3  having an operating gas temperature of less than 70 degrees Celsius, and placing the substrate within the plasma-generating electrical field of the plasma apparatus. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , comprising placing the substrate outside the plasma generating electrical field of the plasma apparatus but in communication with reactive species generated in the plasma, the reactive species facilitating the bonding of the substrate to biomaterial and/or of the biomaterial to itself so as to affix the biomaterial into a coextensive coating on the surface of the underlying portion of substrate. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the biomaterial comprises a mixture of polypeptides of the same or different types. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the polypeptide comprises a silk polypeptide, for example a spider silk polypeptide or a wool polypeptide. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the substrate comprises a textile material and wherein the biomaterial is affixed to the substrate by a covalent bond. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein the textile material is selected from the group of petroleum-based synthetic fibers textiles consisting of, but not limited to, polyester, nylon, synthetic polyurethane (in the form of synthetic leather) cellulose, and other materials used in footwear, equipment, and apparel. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein the textile material has a generally sheet or planar form. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein providing the biomaterial to be affixed to the substrate comprises depositing the biomaterial in varying thicknesses over the substrate in a discontinuous layer and further comprising subjecting the substrate and biomaterial to reactive species from the plasma until the biomaterial affixes to the substrate as a polymerized layer having a varying topology in the nature of a web, regularly spaced perforations or other non-solid patterns. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 12 , further comprising integrating microelectronic devices, sensors, or circuits into the polymerized layer. 
     
     
         14 . The construct of  claim 13 , further comprising integrating selected doping defining an electrically conductive path into the polymerized layer. 
     
     
         15 . A method of treating a substrate, comprising
 providing a substrate comprising a textile material;   providing a monomer mixture comprising silk polypeptides to be affixed to the substrate;   subjecting the substrate and monomer mixture to conditions sufficient to affix the monomer mixture to the substrate as a polymeric coating of the silk polypeptides; and   continuing the conditions until the polymeric coating is formed.   
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 15 , wherein the conditions are provided by a plasma apparatus configured for atmospheric plasma generation and plasma generated in the apparatus facilitates the polymerization. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 15 , further comprising operating a continuous feed assembly coupled to the plasma apparatus to provide input of the substrate into the reaction zone of the plasma apparatus. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 15 , wherein the polymeric coating has a mean thickness of at least 1 nm-1 mm. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 15 , wherein the monomer mixture changes the haptic or hand attributes of the underlying substrate. 
     
     
         20 . A method comprising:
 providing a substrate material comprising silk polypeptides comprising sericin and fibroin, or wool polypeptides comprising sericin and fibroin, as a textile material having a generally sheet or planar form;   depositing a natural or synthetic biomaterial comprising silk polypeptides comprising sericin and fibroin, or wool polypeptides comprising sericin and fibroin, discontinuously over the substrate in varying thicknesses; and   subjecting the substrate and the natural or synthetic biomaterial to reactive species from a plasma generated by an atmospheric plasma apparatus until the biomaterial affixes to the substrate as a polymerized layer having a varying topology in the nature of a web, regularly spaced perforations or other non-solid patterns.