Exploring the Use of Native Spider Silk as an Optical Fiber for Chemical Sensing

Tow, Kenny Hey; Chow, Desmond M.; Vollrath, Fritz; Dicaire, Isabelle; Gheysens, Tom; Thévenaz, Luc

doi:10.1109/jlt.2017.2756095

Cited by 59 publications

(22 citation statements)

References 41 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Spider silk is an attractive biocompatible material for biomedical and optical applications. Spider silk is biodegradable and biocompatible and is particularly suitable for sensing applications [11].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Structural properties and their influence on the prey retention in the spider web

Sharma

Kumar

Lakhani

et al. 2018

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. A.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Orb webs absorb the impact energy of prey and transmit vibratory information to the spider with minimal structural damage. The structural properties of the web and the arrangement of threads within the web affect transmission time during the prey impact. The objective of the present study is to determine damping, stiffness, and transmissibility of healthy and damaged spider webs. Experimental results show that stiffness and transmissibility diminish from the inner to outer spiral threads and gradient variation in the structural properties of spiral threads enhances signal transmission capability toward the centre regardless of the position of prey impact within the healthy web. Spiral threads exhibit excellent prey retention properties due to their stretching capability. Kinetic energy produced by prey is absorbed in the threads, which help the spider to analyse the prey retention properties and also determine the response time. The minor damage (up to 25%) does not alter the basic characteristics of the web due to self-adjustment of tension within the web. Damping, natural frequency, stiffness and transmissibility decrease with the increase in the percentage of damaged web. The present study addresses the structural sustainability of the spider web irrespective of minor damages and also provides guidance in designing the structures under impact. This article is part of the theme issue ‘Bioinspired materials and surfaces for green science and technology’.

show abstract

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Structural properties and their influence on the prey retention in the spider web

Sharma

Kumar

Lakhani

et al. 2018

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. A.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…These devices usually include three main components: an active sensing element that recognizes the analyte and generates an optical signal, a detector that measures one of the characteristics of the optical signal (intensity, frequency, phase) that can be employed for evaluating the concentrations of the analyte of interest, and a computer and a software for data acquisition and processing. In Figure 5, basic sensing schemes for FOCS are shown [34]. In detail, in Figure 5a, one end of the fiber is made sensitive to the chemical substance to be detected.…”

Section: Optical Detection Techniquesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In Figure 5c, a transmission geometry is adopted for studying the investigated interaction process. [34] under Open Access conditions).…”

Section: Optical Detection Techniquesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Advanced Optical Sensing of Phenolic Compounds for Environmental Applications

Delfino

Diano

Lepore

2021

Sensors

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Phenolic compounds are particularly dangerous due to their ability to remain in the environment for a long period of time and their toxic effects. They enter in the environment in different ways, such as waste from paper manufacturing, agriculture (pesticides, insecticides, herbicides), pharmaceuticals, the petrochemical industry, and coal processing. Conventional methods for phenolic compounds detection present some disadvantages, such as cumbersome sample preparation, complex and time-consuming procedures, and need of expensive equipment. Therefore, there is a very large interest in developing sensors and new sensing schemes for fast and easy-to-use methods for detecting and monitoring the phenolic compound concentration in the environment, with special attention to water. Good analytical properties, reliability, and adaptability are required for the developed sensors. The present paper aims at revising the most generally used optical methods for designing and fabricating biosensors and sensors for phenolic compounds. Some selected examples of the most interesting applications of these techniques are also proposed.

show abstract

“…The birefringence of spider silks has been a topic of study because it correlates with the mechanical properties of silk [6][7][8]. Furthermore, the potential for a spider silk to be used as a micro-optical fibre [9] including in sensing applications [10] have been reported.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Photoreflectance/scattering measurements of spider silks informed by standard optics

et al. 2020

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The silks of certain orb weaving spiders are emerging as high-quality optical materials. This motivates study of the optical properties of such silk and particularly the comparative optical properties of the silks of different species. Any differences in optical properties may impart biological advantage for a spider species and make the silks interesting for biomimetic prospecting as optical materials. A prior study of the reflectance of spider silks from 18 species reported results for three species of modern orb weaving spiders ( Nephila clavipes, Argiope argentata and Micrathena Schreibersi ) as having reduced reflectance in the UV range. (Modern in the context used here means more recently derived.) The reduced UV reflectance was interpreted as an adaptive advantage in making the silks less visible to insects. Herein, a standard, experimental technique for measuring the reflectance spectrum of diffuse surfaces, using commercially available equipment, has been applied to samples of the silks of four modern species of orb weaving spiders: Phonognatha graeffei , Eriophora transmarina , Nephila plumipes and Argiope keyserlingi . This is a different technique than used in the previous study. Three of the four silks measured have a reduced signal in the UV. By taking the form of the silks as optical elements into account, it is shown that this is attributable to a combination of wavelength-dependent absorption and scattering by the silks rather than differences in reflectance for the different silks. Phonognatha graeffei dragline silk emerges as a very interesting spider silk with a flat ‘reflectance'/scattering spectrum which may indicate it is a low UV absorbing dielectric micro-fibre. Overall the measurement emerges as having the potential to compare the large numbers of silks from different species to prospect for those which have desirable optical properties.

show abstract

Exploring the Use of Native Spider Silk as an Optical Fiber for Chemical Sensing

Cited by 59 publications

References 41 publications

Structural properties and their influence on the prey retention in the spider web

Structural properties and their influence on the prey retention in the spider web

Advanced Optical Sensing of Phenolic Compounds for Environmental Applications

Photoreflectance/scattering measurements of spider silks informed by standard optics

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About