Mechanical Properties of Spider Dragline Silk: Humidity, Hysteresis, and Relaxation

Vehoff, Thorsten; Glišović, Anja; Schollmeyer, H.; Zippelius, Annette; Salditt, Tim

doi:10.1529/biophysj.106.099309

Cited by 130 publications

(113 citation statements)

References 21 publications

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“…A short softening regime can also be observed immediately prior to failure. If the fiber is relaxed before it breaks, viscoelastic behavior is observed indicating the presence of a small plastic component ( Figure 2) [30]. Figure 2.…”

Section: Adf4mentioning

confidence: 99%

Recombinant Spider Silks—Biopolymers with Potential for Future Applications

2011

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Nature has evolved a range of materials that compete with man-made materials in physical properties; one of these is spider silk. Silk is a fibrous material that exhibits extremely high strength and toughness with regard to its low density. In this review we discuss the molecular structure of spider silk and how this understanding has allowed the development of recombinant silk proteins that mimic the properties of natural spider silks. Additionally, we will explore the material morphologies and the applications of these proteins. Finally, we will look at attempts to combine the silk structure with chemical polymers and how the structure of silk has inspired the engineering of novel polymers.

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Section: Adf4mentioning

confidence: 99%

Recombinant Spider Silks—Biopolymers with Potential for Future Applications

2011

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“…In particular, spider silk constitutes a remarkable elastomeric protein polymer fibre [4,5]. An important fundamental question concerns the link between the mechanical properties of silk fibres and their origin on the level of molecular structure and dynamics [6][7][8], which has also been addressed by multiscale theory approaches [9,10]. The molecular and mesoscopic structure of spider silk fibres has been explored rather comprehensively in the past (e.g.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…[11][12][13][14][15][16] and references therein) and been found to be consistent with a hierarchical structure of nanocrystallites interconnected within so-called nanofibrils by polymer regions with smectic order and being embedded in a disordered polymer matrix. The latter non-crystalline disordered polymer matrix is commonly denoted amorphous matrix [6].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Strain-dependent fractional molecular diffusion in humid spider silk fibres

Krasnov

Seydel²,

Greving

et al. 2016

J. R. Soc. Interface.

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Spider silk is a material well known for its outstanding mechanical properties, combining elasticity and tensile strength. The molecular mobility within the silk's polymer structure on the nanometre length scale importantly contributes to these macroscopic properties. We have therefore investigated the ensemble-averaged single-particle self-dynamics of the prevailing hydrogen atoms in humid spider dragline silk fibres on picosecond time scales in situ as a function of an externally applied tensile strain. We find that the molecular diffusion in the amorphous fraction of the oriented fibres can be described by a generalized fractional diffusion coefficient K a that is independent of the observation length scale in the probed range from approximately 0.3-3.5 nm. K a increases towards a diffusion coefficient of the classical Fickian type with increasing tensile strain consistent with an increasing loss of memory or entropy in the polymer matrix.

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“…This is not surprising given that silk properties are known to vary between individual spiders as well as with ambient humidity and temperature (Madsen et al, 1999;Vehoff et al, 2007;Vollrath et al, 2001). However, this variation should not have an impact on the conclusions of the intra-web comparisons made here, as all silk types from each web were drawn at roughly the same time during web building in the laboratory and tested within an hour of each other, thus minimising any impact of natural fluctuations in humidity and temperature in the laboratory.…”

Section: Comparisons Of the Materials Properties Of The Non-sticky Spimentioning

confidence: 99%

The mechanical properties of the non-sticky spiral inNephilaorb webs (Araneae, Nephilidae)

Hesselberg

Vollrath

2012

Journal of Experimental Biology

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SUMMARYDetailed information on web geometry and the material properties of the various silks used enables the function of the webʼs different structures to be elucidated. In this study we investigated the non-sticky spiral in Nephila edulis webs, which in this species is not removed during web building. This permanent non-sticky spiral shows several modifications compared with others, e.g. temporary non-sticky spirals -it is zigzag shaped and wrapped around the radial thread at the elongated junctions. The material properties of the silk used in the non-sticky spiral and other scaffolding structures (i.e. radii, frame and anchor threads) were comparable. However, the fibre diameters differed, with the non-sticky spiral threads being significantly smaller. We used the measured data in a finite element (FE) model of the non-sticky spiral in a segment of the web. The FE analysis suggested that the observed zigzag index resulted from the application of very high pre-stresses to the outer turns of the non-sticky spiral. However, final pre-stress levels in the non-sticky spiral after reorganisation were down to 300MPa or 1.5-2 times the stress in the radii, which is probably closer to the stress applied by the spider during web building.

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Mechanical Properties of Spider Dragline Silk: Humidity, Hysteresis, and Relaxation

Cited by 130 publications

References 21 publications

Recombinant Spider Silks—Biopolymers with Potential for Future Applications

Recombinant Spider Silks—Biopolymers with Potential for Future Applications

Strain-dependent fractional molecular diffusion in humid spider silk fibres

The mechanical properties of the non-sticky spiral inNephilaorb webs (Araneae, Nephilidae)

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