3d Electron Printing in Recombinant Spider Silk Proteins at the Molecular Level

We report the 3d electron printing of shape-shifting nanodevices at the molecular level, using genetically engineered spider silk proteins as the smart materials. Benefiting from the well-defined molecular structures, recombinant spider silk is a promising construction material for building robust complex 3d nanoarchitectures with high resolution and contrast. This facile and biofriendly nanofabrication method brings us the ability to directly and precisely produce high performance 3d functional nanodevices, for new opportunities in nanorobotics, biomimetics and cell microenvironments.