FABRICS AND METHODS OF MAKING THEM FROM CULTURED CELLS

Abstract

Methods of using of natural or engineered proteins such as collagen to form tanned and/or crosslinked fibers suitable for a wide range of textile manufacturing processes, including non-woven, woven and knitted fabrics. In particular, described herein are methods of forming collagen fibers formed from cell-cultured materials by forming a solution of collagen, tanning agent and in some variations cross-linker, and shortly thereafter, extruding collagen fibers. Also described herein are collagen fibers formed by these methods.

Claims

1-40. (canceled)

41. A textile, comprising: a plurality of fibers comprising a protein; a tanning agent dispersed throughout the plurality of fibers; and a polymer incorporated into the plurality of fibers.

42. The textile of claim 41, wherein the protein in the plurality of fibers is crosslinked.

43. The textile of claim 41, wherein the fibers of the plurality of fibers are extruded fibers.

44. The textile of claim 41, wherein the textile is a sheet of material.

45. The textile of claim 41, wherein the tanning agent is present within the plurality of fibers in a range of 0.01% to 30% by weight of the plurality of fibers.

46. The textile of claim 41, wherein an average diameter of the plurality of fibers is in a range of 20 m to 70 m.

47. The textile of claim 41, wherein the textile is a non-woven material.

48. The textile of claim 41, wherein the textile is a woven material.

49. The textile of claim 41, further comprising a dye distributed throughout the plurality of fibers.

50. The textile of claim 49, wherein the dye comprises an acid dye, a basic dye, a direct dye, a reactive dye, or a sulfur dye.

51. The textile of claim 41, wherein the protein is selected from the group consisting of collagen, fibroin, sericin, casein, and albumin.

52. A textile, comprising: a plurality of extruded fibers comprising a crosslinked protein; and a tanning agent dispersed throughout the plurality of extruded fibers, wherein the textile comprises a sheet formed from the plurality of extruded fibers.

53. The textile of claim 52, wherein the tanning agent is present within the plurality of extruded fibers in a range of 0.01% to 30% by weight of the plurality of extruded fibers.

54. The textile of claim 52, wherein an average diameter of the extruded fibers is in a range of 20 m to 70 m.

55. The textile of claim 52, wherein the textile is a non-woven material

56. The textile of claim 52, wherein the textile is a woven material.

57. The textile of claim 52, wherein the textile is a knitted material.

58. The textile of claim 52, wherein the textile comprises yarn formed from the plurality of extruded fibers.

59. The textile of claim 52, wherein the crosslinked protein comprises collagen.

60. A textile, comprising: a plurality of fibers, the fibers comprising a protein; a tanning agent dispersed throughout the plurality of fibers.

61. The textile of claim 60, wherein the protein is selected from the group consisting of collagen, fibroin, sericin, casein, and albumin.

62. The textile of claim 60, wherein the protein is produced by a protein-producing cell, and wherein the protein-producing cell is at least one of a mammalian cell, a yeast cell, a bacterial cell, or a plant cell.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0045] FIG. 1 is a table (table 1) showing exemplary properties of textile fibers (these properties may be required for downstream processing in yarns and textile).

[0046] FIG. 2 schematically illustrates one variation of a method for forming a textile as described herein.

[0047] FIG. 3 schematically illustrates another variation of a method for forming a textile as described herein (e.g., a textile of collagen proteins).

[0048] FIG. 4 graphically illustrates the relationship between needle diameter and extrusion speed for an exemplary method of forming a collagen fiber as described herein (using a dope of 10 mg/ml collagen solution including a tanning agent and crosslinker).

[0049] FIG. 5 is a table comparing properties of fibers of collagen formed as described herein (e.g., as illustrated in FIG. 3) with traditional fibers of wool and silk.

[0050] FIG. 6 is a micrograph illustrating a silk fiber (on the left) having a diameter of approximately 10 mm with a collagen fiber formed as illustrated in FIG. 3, having a diameter of about 20 mm.

[0051] FIG. 7 is a graph comparing the effect of incorporating a crosslinker (in this example, glutaraldehyde) in the collagen solution (e.g., dope) prior to extruding, showing that there is no difference in the mechanical properties of the fiber when glutaraldehyde is used in either the maximum force (g) or the elongation (%) at break.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0052] Described herein are methods of producing polymeric protein fibers (e.g., collagen fibers), textile precursors, and textiles from non-animal sources, including in particular cell culture sources. For example, described herein are methods of forming unwoven textiles, woven or knitted textiles and textile precursors (e.g., yarns, thread, etc.) from fibers composed of proteins from humane sources including but, not restricted to, cell culture (for both prokaryotes or eukaryotes) of animals or plants, including yeast, bacteria, etc. The source of protein (e.g., protein monomers or small polymers) may be natural or recombinant. The proteins, which may include but are not restricted to: collagens, fibroin, sericin, casein, albumin, can be naturally produced by some mammalian cell type (e.g., fibroblasts, chondrocytes, smooth muscle cells, etc.), but can also be sourced from animals or plants. In other cases, the cells producing the protein (e.g., mammalian, yeast or bacterial, plant cells) can be engineered to form the protein of interest and either keep it within the cell or secrete into the extracellular space. In some variations, particularly when the protein is not secreted, the protein may be harvested from the cell (e.g., yeast or bacterium) by lysing. Alternatively or additionally, soluble proteins can be harvested directly from the medium. Also described herein are textiles made by these methods.

[0053] For example, described herein are methods of making collagen fibers for use in fabrication of textile fabrics. These textiles may have highly controlled leather-like characteristics that are superior to, or in some cases very different from, previously manufactured leathers.

[0054] In any of these variations, specialized, collagen-secreting animal cells (e.g., fibroblasts, smooth muscle cells, etc.) from animals such as bovine, porcine, ovine, etc., may be sourced from live animals by biopsy or extracted from animals slaughtered for their meat. Alternatively, existing cell-lines (mammalian cell lines) may be used, or bacterial and/or yeast cells expressing collagen or some other fiber-producing protein may be used. Cells may be grown under controlled conditions using standard cell culture techniques until sufficient number of them becomes available to produce a specific amount of protein (used to form the fabric).

[0055] In methods and systems in which adherent cells are used to produce collagen, cells may be plated on the surfaces of culture dishes with different curvature (both planer and curved, such as the inner surface of roller bottles; outer surface of a cylindrical cell culture mandrel) and cultured in the presence of ascorbic acid to secrete collagen. After several days (depending on cell type) a layer of collagen appears typically under the plated (and multiplied cells). Cells appear predominantly at the interface with the culture medium to maximize their exposure to nutrients. (A small number of cells remain in the secreted collagen matrix and at the lower interface with the culture vessel.) In addition secretion of collagen underneath of this cell layer is advantageous as the constrained space between the cells and the bottom of the culture vessel represents a constrained environment, which effectively acts as crowders. Collagen secreted into the culture medium above the cell layer tends to flow away from the cells making fibril and fiber formation inefficient. A significant concentration of soluble procollagen appears in the culture medium. The collagen layer is composed of substantially fibrils of variable length and diameter around 0.1 micron. In this example, decellularization of the construct may then be performed with known methods to remove the cell layer from the top of the collagen sheet, which is then reseeded with fresh cells. These on one had strongly attached to the collagen layer underneath and, on the other hand commence secrete their own collagen. Reseeding results in a thicker collagen sheet with most of the cells remaining again at the upper interface of the construct with the culture medium. This procedure can be continued until the desired thickness of the construct is achieved.

[0056] The engineered ECM can be digested into individual collagen fibrils or collagen monomers, by known methods, including enzymatic methods. These units can then be used to reconstitute the matrix by known methods to form collagen gels, which in turn can be extruded to form long fibers for spooling or stapled fibers for non-wovens or wovens or to produce yarns for knitting. In some variations, a solution of collagen from which fibers may be spun as described herein may include forming a solution of collagen by forming a solution of collagen monomers in the solution at an acidic pH.

[0057] The engineered ECM can be blended into small fragments and homogenized. The blended construct may then be dried and made into a powder-like substance through for example lyophilization. This powder can be conveniently stored until use. The powder can be rehydrated in a crosslinker-containing solution. In this process the viscosity of the resulting slurry and its mechanical properties can be conveniently controlled. The powder can also be mixed with other exogenous material for further control of material properties. The resulting slurry can be used for fiber formation by extrusion as described herein.

[0058] As used herein the term collagen may refer to a structural protein found in animal connective tissue. So far, 28 types of collagen have been identified and described. They can be divided into several groups according to the structure they form, for example, fibrillar (Type I, II, III, V, XI), facit (Type IX, XII, XIV), short chain (Type VIII, X), basement membrane (Type IV), and other types (Type VI, VII, XIII). Although collagen occurs in many places throughout the human body, over 90% of the collagen in the body, however, is type I. Collagen is a long, fibrous structural protein whose functions are quite different from those of globular proteins, such as enzymes. Collagens are major components of the extracellular matrix that supports most tissues and gives cells structure from the outside. Collagen has great tensile strength, and is the main component of fascia, cartilage, ligaments, tendons, bone and skin. Along with soft keratin, it is responsible for skin strength and elasticity, and its degradation leads to wrinkles that accompany aging. It strengthens blood vessels and plays a role in tissue development. It is present in the cornea and lens of the eye in crystalline form. As used herein, collagen may be of any appropriate type.

[0059] As used herein, the term cell culture may refer to the process by which cells are grown under controlled conditions, generally outside of their natural environment. In practice, the term cell culture may refer to the culturing of cells derived from multi-cellular eukaryotes, especially animal cells, as well as single-celled organisms, including bacteria and yeast. Cultured cells may therefore be derived from plants, fungi, microbes, including viruses, bacteria and protists. Cultures may be adherent (e.g., grown on a substrate) or suspended, or some combination of these. The methods described herein may use any appropriate cell culturing technique and may use any appropriate cell type.

[0060] The proteins for making fibers however maybe sourced directly from live or dead animals or plants as well.

[0061] In some variations the methods described herein may use hydroentanglement as part of the method for forming nonwoven fabrics. As used herein, the term hydroentanglement may refer to a bonding process for wet or dry fibrous webs made by either carding, air-laying or wet-laying, the resulting bonded fabric being a nonwoven material. Hydroentanglement may use fine, high pressure jets of water which penetrate the web, hit the conveyor belt (or wire as in papermaking conveyor) and bounce back causing the fibers to entangle. Hydroentanglement is sometimes known as spun lacing, this term arising because the early nonwovens were entangled on conveyors with a patterned weave which gave the nonwovens a lacy appearance. It can also be regarded as a two-dimensional equivalent of spinning fibers into yarns prior to weaving. The water pressure has a direct bearing on the strength of the web, and very high pressures not only entangle but can also split fibers into micro- and nano-fibers, which give the resulting hydroentangled nonwoven a leather-like or even silky texture. This type of nonwoven can be as strong and tough as woven fabrics made from the same fibers.

[0062] Fibers formed from cell cultured materials as described herein may be formed by spinning, including wet spinning. Spinning may refer to a manufacturing process for creating polymer fibers that is a specialized form of extrusion that uses a spinneret to form multiple continuous filaments. There are many types of spinning: wet, dry, dry jet-wet, melt, gel, and electrospinning. In general a process for spinning may involve first converting the polymer being spun into a fluid state. This step may be unnecessary in some of the variations taught herein, in which cultured cells may already secrete and/or release the components of the fiber (e.g., collagen) into the culture medium. The fluid material including the polymer may then be forced through the spinneret, where it forms long fibers. Unlike spinning of traditional synthetic polymers, the spinning techniques described herein do not require (and may not use) heating/melting of the dope solution; instead, the collagen solution may be formed of monomeric collagen that is solubilized in an acidic solution. In general, the collagen solution and extruded collagen fibers may be maintained a low temperatures (e.g., less than 50 C., less than 45 C., less than 40 C., approximately room temperature, etc.), which may prevent degradation of the fibers. The extruded fibers may be solidified after extrusion. In some variations the fibers are extruded into a second solution that may modify the pH (e.g., neutralize the pH) of the fibers. And allowed to cool; it may cool to a rubbery state, and then a solidified state.

[0063] As used herein wet spinning may refer to the oldest of the five spinning processes. This process is used for polymers that need to be dissolved in a solvent to be spun. The spinneret is submerged in a chemical bath that causes the fiber to precipitate, and then solidify, as it emerges. The process gets its name from this wet bath. As will be described herein, this process may be modified to at least partially tan (e.g., expose to one or more tanning metals, such as chromium) the formed or forming fibers. A variant of wet spinning is dry jet-wet spinning, where the solution is extruded into air and drawn, and then submerged into a liquid bath.

[0064] Dry spinning may also be used for polymers that must be dissolved in solvent. It differs in that the solidification is achieved through evaporation of the solvent. This is usually achieved by a stream of air or inert gas. Because there is no precipitating liquid involved, the fiber does not need to be dried, and the solvent is more easily recovered. Extrusion spinning may use pellets or granules of the solid polymer that are fed into an extruder. The pellets are compressed, heated and melted by an extrusion screw, then fed to a spinning pump and into the spinneret. Direct spinning avoids the stage of solid polymer pellets, and instead the polymer melt is produced from the raw materials, and then from the polymer finisher directly pumped to the spinning mill. Gel spinning, also known as dry-wet spinning, may be used to obtain high strength or other special properties in the fibers. The polymer is in a gel state, only partially liquid, which keeps the polymer chains somewhat bound together. These bonds produce strong inter-chain forces in the fiber, which increase its tensile strength. The polymer chains within the fibers also have a large degree of orientation, which increases strength. The fibers are first air dried, then cooled further in a liquid bath. Some high strength polyethylene and aramid fibers are produced via this process. Electrospinning uses an electrical charge to draw very fine (typically on the micro or nano scale) fibers from a liquid, either a polymer solution or a polymer melt. Electrospinning shares characteristics of both electrospraying and conventional solution dry spinning of fibers. The process does not require the use of coagulation chemistry or high temperatures to produce solid threads from solution. This makes the process particularly suited to the production of fibers using large and complex molecules. Fibers may be drawn to increase strength and orientation. This may be done while the polymer is still solidifying or after it has completely cooled.

[0065] As used herein, a textile or cloth may refer to a flexible woven, non-woven or knitted material consisting of a network of natural or artificial fibers often referred to as thread or yarn. Yarn is produced by spinning raw fibers of wool, flax, cotton, or other material to produce long strands. Textiles may be formed by a variety of methods including but not restricted to weaving, knitting, crocheting, knotting, or felting. The words fabric and cloth may be used as synonyms for textile. However, in some contexts a textile may refer to any material made of interlacing fibers; a fabric may refer to any material made through weaving, knitting, spreading, crocheting, or bonding that may be used in production of further goods (garments, etc.). Cloth may be used synonymously with fabric. Felt is a textile that is typically produced by matting, condensing and pressing fibers together. As used herein a fiber may refer to a thread, filament or yarn from which a textile may be formed.

[0066] The methods described herein may be used to produce fabrics by unwoven fibers made from proteins (secreted by cells or sourced by any other method). The proteins, like collagen, fibroin, sericin, casein, albumin can be naturally produced by some mammalian cell types (fibroblasts, chondrocytes, smooth muscle cells, etc.). In other cases, cells (mammalian cells, yeast or bacteria) can be engineered to form the protein of interest and either keep it within the cell or secrete into the extracellular space. As mentioned above, to harvest the protein within the cell, the cells (e.g., yeast or bacteria) need to be lysed; soluble protein can be harvested directly from the medium.

Example 1: Fiber Formation from Soluble Proteins

[0067] Soluble proteins can be isolated from a cell culture medium by techniques such as concentration by precipitation, dialysis and freeze-drying. For example, lyophilized material may be used to form the fibers by one of the 2 following methods. In method 1 (illustrated below), proteins may be solubilized in a buffer and the solution is deposited in thin layer on glass plate and air blown to induce the formation of fibers. After a crosslinking step, the fibers can be scraped from the glass. The fibers will be tanned with a modified process. In another method, method 2, protein is dissolved into a solvent before wet spinning (extrusion), as briefly described above. To form fibers, the protein solution may be pushed through a nozzle directly into a coagulation bath. Shape and mechanical properties of the extruded fibers can be adjusted (e.g. by speed of extrusion, varying the concentration of the protein solution, etc.). As the filaments emerge from the spinneret into the wet spinning coagulation and cross-linking quench bath the filaments can be coalesced into a multifilament fiber and then spooled or collected into yarn. Alternatively, several multifilament fibers can be collected into a tow bundle which is then piddled or laid down uniformly into a box or container called a tote. If the fibers were spooled they can first be drawn using a device such as a McCoy Ellison draw unit to further orient the fibrils in the filament thus increasing the strength (tenacity) of the filament while decreasing its diameter or denier. The drawn fibers can be rewound onto cylinders or can be wound directly onto a beam for use in weaving or warp knitting operations.

[0068] The first method (method 1) for forming collagen fibers may be similar to that described by Y. Wu, Kai Wang, Gisela Buschle-Diller, and Mark R. Liles (Fiber Formation by Dehydration-Induced Aggregation of Albumin.) J. APPL. POLYM. SCI. 2013. Cells engineered to secrete protein (e.g., albumin) may be cultivated until the concentration of protein reaches a predetermined level (e.g., >1 mg/ml). Proteins can be precipitated, e.g., by addition of ammonium sulfate (max 4M) or by cold ethanol (9:1 EtOH; medium (v/v). The precipitate may be recovered by centrifugation and the proteins (e.g., 10 mg/ml) may be solubilized in a buffer (e.g., 10 mM Na2SO4, 45 mM DTT adjusted at pH 4.7 with HCl). The solution may be poured on a substrate such as a glass plate and dried by airflow at 30 C. with low (e.g., less than 30%) humidity. The fibers may then be cross-linked (e.g., using formaldehyde vapor in methanol or EDC) and then rinsed with alcohol and air-dried. The fibers can also be detached by acetonitrile immersion or simply by scrapping them from the plate.

[0069] In any of the methods described herein, cultured cells may be used to grow the protein to produce the fibers, and these (e.g., collagen) fibers may be tanned as part of the fabrication process. Tanning may be performed in a manner that has not previously been possible or used when fabricating textiles. For example tanning of the fibers can be initiated either during their extrusion (e.g., in the solution/dope from which they are extruded) or after they are spooled. Tanning can also be performed on the yarn or the final fabric made of these fibers by textile making methods (see below). Tanning during (including before) extrusion allows essentially each protein filament to be tanned separately, and thus could give rise to filaments with vastly differing material properties depending on the specific tanning chemicals or their combination used.

[0070] In particular, tanning may occur by including a tanning agent (e.g., chromium, etc.) in the protein solution prior to extruding the fiber; a cross-linker may also be included (either before, during, or after tanning using a tanning agent in the bath). For example, when forming (e.g., by extrusion) collagen fibers into a solution, the solution containing the filamentous proteins may also contain a tanning agent such as chromium (the ubiquitous tanning agent) and/or cross-linkers for example such as gluteraldehyde or EDC. The amount or concentration of such agents may be extremely low, as the fibers would be highly accessible. These tanned fibers may be further processed into a fabric with methods known in the textile industry to form woven, non-woven or knitted fabrics. Alternatively or additionally, tanning may be performed after the fibers have been turned into a yarn or fabric in which case it will mimic the tanning of animal hides.

[0071] As mentioned above, any of these methods may be used to form non-woven textiles or fabrics. The fibers produced from soluble proteins as described herein may have physical properties similar to the properties of textile fibers (see, e.g., FIG. 1, showing Table 1, which describes properties of known textiles). These fibers formed of cell-cultured materials could, therefore, be processed into yarns and textile fabrics using downstream textile processing methods that are traditionally used for staple and filament fibers. Thus, the protein fibers can be used to manufacture non-woven, woven and knitted fabrics. They can also be used to manufacture both solid and hollow braided structures.

[0072] For example, if the fibers are collected as a tow, the tow can be crimped and then cut to a length of 1.8 to 2.5 cm to form staple. The crimped staple fibers can then be baled for shipment to a yarn spinning facility or a non-woven processing facility. Staple yarns made from collagen can be used in a variety of non-woven manufacturing methods. To assure uniformity, several bales of protein staple fibers may be blended together. The fibers may then be opened to assure that there are no clumps of fibers and then the opened fibers are formed into a web. Any appropriate web forming process can be used, including, but not limited to, carding, aerodynamic or air laid, centrifugal dynamic and wet laid methods. Several layers of webs may be built up either by parallel or cross lapping of the webs. As mentioned above, the webs may be formed of fibers that have been tanned as described above. The webs may then be consolidated using mechanical, chemical, or thermal processes. Mechanical processes include, but are not limited to, stitchbonding, needlefelting or hydroentangling (spun lacing). Chemical methods of consolidating the web such as vinyl latex applied by saturation or printing can be used. If low melting thermoplastic staple fibers are blended with the collagen staple fibers then thermal web consolidation methods can be used such as calendering, radiant or convective heat or sonic bonding. Leather-like patterns can be embossed into the web. The consolidated web can take on the texture of the support screen or hydroentangling roll. If tanning has not been performed at the level of fibers then the consolidated web of protein fibers may be tanned and then dyed, printed and finished to achieve a wide variety of leather appearances.

[0073] Protein fibers can also be used to manufacture spun yarns and woven or knitted fabrics. Typical staple fiber processing methods in which the protein fibers can be used include, crimping, cutting to the desired length typically 1.8 to 2.5 cm, followed by blending, opening carding, combing, roving, forming a sliver, spinning into threads (yarns) twisting to increase strength and winding to make individual tubes or packages of single ends of yarn. Yarn spinning methods that can be used include, but are not limited to, ring spinning, open end spinning and air jet spinning. These tubes of yarn can be used directly in circular knitting and in manufacturing a filling or weft (cross or width direction) of a woven fabric.

[0074] Individual spools of protein yarn can be mounted in a creel containing many hundreds of such yarn packages. Each of the ends of protein yarn can be sized with a starch like chemical to temporarily stiffen it and then wound, each yarn positioned precisely on top of itself along the length of a long metal tube called a beam. The protein fibers on the beam can then be used to make the warp or length direction of a woven fabric.

[0075] The collagen yarns wound on a spool can be inserted across the width direction to make the filling or weft of a woven fabric. The collagen yarns are strong enough to withstand the five basic motions of weaving: let off, shedding, picking, beat up and fabric take-up. Types of looms on which the protein fibers can be woven, include but are not limited to, shuttle looms, projectile looms, rapier looms, water jet looms, air jet looms and jacquard looms.

[0076] The collagen yarns can be used to make any variety of woven fabrics including, but not limited to, plain weaves including warp rib, filling rib and basket weave. They can also be used to make all angles of twill weaves, satin weaves, dobby weaves, jacquard weaves, leno weaves, warp and filling pile weaves including corduroy, velveteen, velour and terry.

[0077] Protein fibers formed as described herein can be used to manufacture knitted fabrics. Protein fibers processed using the staple processing methods described above to form protein yarns can be used directly to manufacture weft knit fabrics. Weft knit fabric manufacturing methods using protein fiber based yarns include, but are not limited to single and double circular knit and flat bed or V bed knitting. The types of knitted stitches and fabrics that can be produced using protein fibers include, but are not limited to, eightlock, fashion knit, interlock, jersey, jersey flannel, links-links, Milanese, pile knit, velour, pique, rib knit, stockinette, suede and tuck stitch. Protein fibers can also be knit directly from sliver to avoid the necessity of spinning yarns.

[0078] Collagen filament fibers can be used in warp knitting. In warp knitting the collagen filament fibers are not spun into yarns but rather are used directly after drawing to increase strength and decrease denier. The first step of this process is to form a beam similar to the beams described above for use in woven fabrics. The types of warp knit fabrics that can be made from collagen filament fiber include tricot and raschel. Other types of knitted fabrics that can also be made include powernet (if blended with rubber or spandex), Simplex, double needle bar raschel for knitted velour and weft insertion.

[0079] All of the non-woven, woven and knitted fabrics made from collagen staple and filament fibers can be tanned and then dyed and finished using a variety of techniques appropriate for fine leather fabrics.

[0080] FIG. 2 illustrates a generic method of forming a textile (e.g., a leather-like textile) as described herein. In FIG. 2, the first step illustrated is culturing collagen-forming cells so that they produce collagen at a significant level 201. The level may be determined empirically (by direct or indirect sampling), including by sampling for the level of the protein or for the growth of the cells producing the collagen.

[0081] Thereafter, the collagen grown by the culturing of the cells may be harvested so that the protein is suspended in a solution (which may be concentrated and/or lyophilized) 203A. This solution including the protein (e.g., collagen) may then be used to form the fibers (including but not limited to collagen fibers) by any of the methods described herein or otherwise known, e.g., by extrusion, spinning, plate-lyophilization, etc.) 205. Optionally (as indicated by the dashed lines in FIG. 2), the fibers may be tanned, e.g., immediately after and/or during the fiber formation process 207 (for example, by adding and/or including a tanning agent in the solution prior to forming the fiber, e.g., by spinning). For example, a tanning agent such as chromium and/or other metals or fixative agent may be included in wet extrusion by either mixing it into the collagen solution or added into the coagulation bath. Thereafter a textile maybe formed 209 (e.g., woven, unwoven, etc.). The textile may be tanned as well or instead of tanning during/after fiber formation. An additional or alternative step of crosslinking may be included (not shown) one or more crosslinking agent in the solution of collagen from which the fibers are being formed and/or crosslinking after (e.g., immediately after) the fibers are formed.

[0082] Thus, in general, the protein fibers may be tanned during or immediately after formation, as fibers rather than hides and/or textiles. Although any appropriate method of forming the fibers may be used (including that shown, e.g., by Silver et al. in U.S. Pat. No. 5,171,273), the materials and methods described herein are distinct as they provide for the first time a method (and resulting textile) that is tanned and/or crosslinked prior to forming the fibers that may then be used to form a textile (e.g., fabric). Surprisingly, the methods described herein may allow individual fibers to be formed pre-tanned (e.g., at a stage when the fibers and fiber components are easily individually accessible), and the resulting material may have properties not otherwise attainable in natural or synthetic materials (e.g., leathers) formed differently by the methods described herein and the resulting textile may have new properties. Such properties may not have been possible or observed with native leather before, including but not limited to super hydrophobicity, super oleophobicity, fire retardance, abrasion resistance, chromatographic color changing, thermal responsiveness, enhanced water resistance, etc. Generally, tanning of normal (animal harvested) leather is both difficult and requires a complex chemical understanding of the underlying process, which may be adjusted based on the individual properties of the hide being tanned. In contrast the methods described herein may, by tanning fibers when they are soluble or otherwise easily accessed, allow the complexity to be simplified and to achieve near-homogenous tanning by using lower concentrations and/or alternative types of tanning agents to stabilize the protein and prevent putrefaction. The methods described herein may allow optimal or near-optimal tanning by allowing access to every fiber of protein formed.

[0083] As mentioned above, the textiles formed as described herein may form a leather-like material, and these textiles may be used in any manner in which normal or synthetic leathers may be used. For example, the textiles described herein may be used, without limitation, as part of a garment, an accessory or a piece of furniture (e.g., shoes, bags, watchbands, jackets, pants, upholstery, etc.).

[0084] FIG. 3 illustrates another variation of a method for making a textile using the methods described herein. FIG. 3 is similar to FIG. 2, but includes preparing the solution (dope) 207 which incorporates a tanning agent and/or a crosslinker in the solution prior to forming the fiber (e.g., by extruding) 205.

[0085] As mentioned above, any appropriate method of forming the fibers may be used. For example, when fibers may be extruded from a spinneret, which may include a needle (e.g., by spinning). FIG. 4 illustrates how needle diameter and the speed of extrusion of the protein solution (e.g., in this example collagen solution) into the bath affects the diameter of the fiber formed. In this example, the concentration of collagen in the collagen solution is approximately 10 mg/ml.

[0086] In general, the inventors have found that, when using solution of collagen to form collagen fibers, the collagen concentration is an important parameter. A collagen solution of 10 mg/ml was found to be optimal as forming fibers becomes more difficult as the concentration decreases. Although in some instances a low concentration of 3.4 mg/ml of neet collagen was successfully spun into a fiber using a gauge 25 needle, with the addition of crosslinker (glutaraldehyde) and a tanning agent (e.g., chromium), no fibers were able to form for collagen concentration at 3 mg/ml, and a minimum of 7 mg/ml was necessary for fiber formation.

[0087] In addition, the length of the fiber formed may depend on the extrusion speed, the needle diameter, and/or the collagen concentration. If too little collagen is pushed through the needle, the fiber will break. If too much is pushed, the collagen will accumulate at the needle tip and no fiber is formed. For each needle gauge, the speed may be adjusted. As mentioned, the use (and type) of crosslinker and/or tanning agent may also modify the optimal speed, as the viscosity of the collagen solution may also increase. Surprisingly, despite the change in viscosity with the use of crosslinking and/or tanning agents in the solution, conditions were identified in which fibers could be formed (e.g., generally concentrations over 5 mg/ml at a rate of between 70 and 300 l/min using a 21-28 gauge needle).

[0088] The collagen fibers formed as described herein are remarkably uniform in properties, particularly in the distribution of tanning agent and/or crosslinker. A section through a diameter of a fiber shows that the distribution of tanning agent and/or crosslinking is nearly perfectly uniform in virtually all (e.g., >90%) of the collagen used in a textile formed as described herein.

[0089] In addition, the collagen fibers formed as described herein (e.g., using a method such as that shown in FIG. 3) may have properties as good as or better than natural fibers or synthetic fibers, such as those shown in FIG. 1. FIG. 5 is a second table comparing physical properties (filament diameter, tenacity, elongation at break) of collagen fibers formed as described herein compared to natural wool and silk fibers. FIG. 6 also illustrates a microscopic comparison between Bombix Silk fibers (shown on the left, having a diameter of 10 m) and a collagen fiber formed as described herein (shown on the right, having a diameter of 20 m). These comparisons indicate that collagen fibers formed as described herein may have properties in the range required by the textile industry and may be useful to make fabrics that are more often fabricated using traditional textiles and methods.

Crosslinkers and Tanning Agents

[0090] As mentioned above, in general any appropriate cross-linking and tanning agent may be used. The addition of a crosslinker such as glutaraldehyde may be necessary to obtain a fiber that is water insoluble. Without crosslinking, collagen fibers may swell and re-solubilize in water. In variations in which cross-linking is done after extrusion (e.g., FIG. 2), the fibers may be placed overnight in a 2% solution (e.g., between about 1 to 4% solutions) of glutaraldehyde in acetone or methanol. In variations in which the crosslinker (crosslinking agent) is added before extrusion (e.g., in the collagen solution), the final concentration of glutaraldehyde may be 1.2% (although a similar range of 1 to 4% could be used).

[0091] The addition of cross-linker during the methods of forming a fiber (and textile) as described herein (e.g., see FIG. 3) does not affect the mechanical properties of the fibers, as illustrated in FIG. 7. In FIG. 7, the maximal force (bars on right of each pair) and the elongation at break (bars on the left of each pair) are not significantly different for the fibers without and with addition of glutaraldehyde.

[0092] Similarly, tanning agents may be used to stabilize the collagen structure. One of the biggest benefits of tanning a fiber as described herein is the resulting hydrothermal stability of the fibers after tanning. In the traditional leather, the tanning agent has to penetrate in the hide, which may be difficult, time consuming and typically is non-uniform (as a gradient of concentration will inevitably result). Typically the complete hide is exposed to a particular (single) tanning agent, and no local treatment for a particular effect or property can be achieved. The methods described herein may allow tanning of every single fiber of the material. In addition to thermoresistance, other properties can be given to all or part of the fibers composing the fabrics. For example, part of the fibers can be fire resistant. A variety of fibers with different properties could be produce and incorporated into one material. Since the fibers are prepared separately, they could also be mixed with other textiles fibers to achieve other aesthetics or properties of the fabrics.

[0093] Testing of the fibers formed as described herein have shown that tanning (e.g., chromium tanning) of fibers for approximately 5 min in the solution prior to extruding the fiber results in fibers that have a similar hydrothermal property compared to native fibers and traditional leather. For example, fibers tanned and extruded as illustrated in FIG. 3 were placed in water and warmed to at least 95 C. without degradation, comparable to traditionally tanned leather materials.

Post-Extrusion Processing

[0094] Once fibers have been formed (e.g., extruded) as described herein, they may be used to form a pre-textile material (e.g., yarn, thread, etc.) and/or formed into the textile. These tanned fibers may also be further processed by one or more technique to modify the properties of the resulting textile. For traditional crusting steps (e.g., retanning, dyeing, fatliquoring, etc.) may be performed on the individual fibers and/or once the fibers have been formed into a textile.

[0095] For example, fatliquoring may include the addition of natural or synthetic lubricants to the fibers prior to forming them into a textile, which not only allow the fibers to dry without interfacial adhesion (sticking) but may also provide hydrophobicity, and other properties, to the fibers. This may provide advantages over regular fatliquoring, in that each individual fiber may be definitively treated with a set amount of lubricant, which is not guaranteed with natural leather due to the variability in internal fiber structure. These methods may also allow for alternate lubricants to be used that could not be normally considered due to issues with dispersion size, i.e., in natural leather for deep fiber penetration the emulsion size may be critical in order to be small enough to penetrate fully within the fiber matrix, but this may be alleviated by treating fibers individually as described herein. Further these methods may also provide improved tensile and tearing strength characteristics due to highly efficient fatliquoring. Finally the methods described herein may provide nearly complete (e.g., 100%) efficiency in exhaustion of the reagent, including the lubricant; in addition, the lubricant may be virtually immediately reacted with the fiber, as opposed to having to penetrate and then fix the lubricant as required by in natural leather. This results in an extremely energy efficient and material efficient process, using less chemicals, lower temperatures (as cold fatliquoring can be employed due to not needing such a small dispersion size) and reduced water usage which consequently will reduce effluent requirements. In some variations, the percentage of fatliquoring (e.g., the percentage of oil lubricant by weight) may be less than 10% (e.g., between 0.1-15%, between 0.5-10%, etc.). In addition, one or more lubricants may be incorporated into the fiber itself during the formation process, including prior to extrusion, e.g., including a fatliquoring agent such as a lubricant within the protein solution prior. For example, a lubricant may be emulsified and included in the solution and/or added to the extruded fibers. In some variations the fatliquoring may be performed immediately after extruding the fibers, e.g., by extruding into a secondary solution that includes the fatliquoring agent. In some variations it may be preferably to include a fatliquoring agent only on the surface of the fibers (e.g., without substantially penetrating the fibers. Examples of fatliquoring agents may include: oils (e.g., sulfonated oils, mineral oil, etc.), fats (animal fats, vegetable fats, e.g., glycerides, etc.), synthetic lubricants, polysiloxanes, lubricating acrylic polymers, dry lubricants, etc. The fibers and/or a textile made from the fibers described herein may be made water resistant (e.g., waterproofing) by the addition of an agent such as a hydrophobic agent, which can include, but are not limited to, hydrophobic lubricants (e.g. a modified polysiloxane such as Densodrin CD from BASF), fluorocarbons, hydrophobic acrylic polymers, chromium stearates, etc. The ability to make each fiber water resistant may also increase the consistency and varying levels of water resistance may be achievable in a controlled manner.

[0096] Retanning is performed with traditional leather materials to modify the qualities of the leather, including increasing/decreasing the concentration of the tanning agent, and/or modify the properties of the resulting fibers and/or textiles which may in term enhance further processing of the material, including dying. In any of the methods described herein retanning may be performed with the same or a different tanning agent. Retanning may be performed on the fibers (including on the pre-textile material) or on the textile. Retanning may be combined with any of the other post-extrusion steps described herein, including fatliquoring and/or dyeing. In addition, the order of these post-extrusion steps may be performed in any appropriate sequence (e.g., retanning then fatliquoring, etc.).

[0097] Dyeing adds color to the fibers and/or the resulting textile. Any appropriate dye may be used, particularly dyes that are appropriate for leather (e.g., collagen materials although other dyes specifically designed for textiles are may be used including those that have compatible reactivity, e.g. reactive dyes. As mentioned, in some variations a dye or dyes may be included in the protein (e.g., collagen) solution prior to extruding or immediately after extrusion. Dyes may include acid dyes (e.g., pre-metallized acid dyes), basic dyes, direct dyes, reactive dyes and sulfur dyes. A mordant dye (e.g., including a mordant to help with binding of the dye to the material) may also be used.

[0098] Other chemical treatments may also be added either in the protein (e.g. collagen) solution prior to extrusion, or after extrusion of filaments, such as: flame retardants, abrasion resistance treatments, thermos-regulating technologies, moisture management technologies, performance particulates, etc. The methods described herein may allow novel chemistries that have previously been difficult or unsuccessful when applied to traditional collagen materials such as natural leather, in attempts to impregnate into the fiber structure or otherwise be introduced to the fiber or textile. The methods described herein may successfully address the problem of applying such technologies that have in the past had to rely on a very rudimentary coating or lamination on to either or both of the surfaces of leather, which is often undesirable because such methods and systems can suffer from delamination, may badly affect the handling of the leather and ultimately take additional time, resources and equipment to apply such coatings/laminates.

[0099] Terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. For example, as used herein, the singular forms a, an and the are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms comprises and/or comprising, when used in this specification, specify the presence of stated features, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof. As used herein, the term and/or includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items and may be abbreviated as /.

[0100] Although the terms first and second may be used herein to describe various features/elements (including steps), these features/elements should not be limited by these terms, unless the context indicates otherwise. These terms may be used to distinguish one feature/element from another feature/element. Thus, a first feature/element discussed below could be termed a second feature/element, and similarly, a second feature/element discussed below could be termed a first feature/element without departing from the teachings of the present invention.

[0101] Throughout this specification and the claims, which follow, unless the context requires otherwise, the word comprise, and variations such as comprises and comprising means various components can be co-jointly employed in the methods and articles (e.g., compositions and apparatuses including device and methods). For example, the term comprising will be understood to imply the inclusion of any stated elements or steps but not the exclusion of any other elements or steps.

[0102] As used herein in the specification and claims, including as used in the examples and unless otherwise expressly specified, all numbers may be read as if prefaced by the word about or approximately, even if the term does not expressly appear. The phrase about or approximately may be used when describing magnitude and/or position to indicate that the value and/or position described is within a reasonable expected range of values and/or positions.

[0103] Although various illustrative embodiments are described above, any of a number of changes may be made to various embodiments without departing from the scope of the invention as described by the claims. For example, the order in which various described method steps are performed may often be changed in alternative embodiments, and in other alternative embodiments one or more method steps may be skipped altogether. Optional features of various device and system embodiments may be included in some embodiments and not in others. Therefore, the foregoing description is provided primarily for exemplary purposes and should not be interpreted to limit the scope of the invention as it is set forth in the claims.

[0104] The examples and illustrations included herein show, by way of illustration and not of limitation, specific embodiments in which the subject matter may be practiced. As mentioned, other embodiments may be utilized and derived there from, such that structural and logical substitutions and changes may be made without departing from the scope of this disclosure. Such embodiments of the inventive subject matter may be referred to herein individually or collectively by the term invention merely for convenience and without intending to voluntarily limit the scope of this application to any single invention or inventive concept, if more than one is, in fact, disclosed. Thus, although specific embodiments have been illustrated and described herein, any arrangement calculated to achieve the same purpose may be substituted for the specific embodiments shown. This disclosure is intended to cover any and all adaptations or variations of various embodiments. Combinations of the above embodiments, and other embodiments not specifically described herein, will be apparent to those of skill in the art upon reviewing the above description.