Toughening brittle kraft lignin coating on mismatched substrate with spider Silk-Inspired protein as an interfacial modulator

Current production of functional coatings majorly relies on petrochemical formulations. While they have provided substantial benefits, their fabrication processes as well as their disposal created widespread ecological catastrophes. Thus, there is a pressing demand and calls for a radical transformation to develop sustainable solutions by using renewable building blocks. Herein, we report on a novel coating formulation by combining largely undervalued kraft lignin from the forest industry, with genetically engineered and recombinantly produced spider silk-inspired protein through the industrial biotechnology platform. Unmodified kraft lignin was used as the main bulk component in the coating given its abundance and low cost. The nanometer-thin spider silk-inspired protein (SSIP) was used as a primary layer exhibiting dual functionalities: (i) modulating the mechanical properties of inherently brittle kraft lignin, (ii) substantially increasing the interfacial binding of kraft lignin to the underlying rigid silica substrate with the mismatched physicochemical properties. Our findings demonstrate how synergistic interplay components could result in scalable and durable functional coatings which could potentially be used in various medical and industrial applications in the future.