Spider Silk – Providing New Insights in the Field of High Performance Materials

Abstract

Despite being spun at ambient temperatures and pressures the excellent tensile and elongational properties of spider silk makes it very useful. A recent insight into the wonderful spinning process of the spider throws new light on the research on fibers. This article tries to overview the research in the last decade stressing on the interesting spinning and drawing techniques of the spider and some of its tensile and thermal properties, which makes the fiber unique. The recent characterizing techniques used to investigate spider silk have been discussed in depth and the future areas of research outlined.

Investigation of Synthetic Spider Silk Crystallinity and Alignment via Electrothermal, Pyroelectric, Literature XRD, and Tensile Techniques

“…Of particular interest is the dragline silk from N. clavipes , with high strength, elongation, and toughness for a polymer and low density material . These values are typically in the range of 0.7–1.4 GPa for ultimate tensile strength, 6%–35% for elongation, and 100–400 kJ kg −1 for toughness or energy‐to‐break …”

“Biosteel”: an exciting product from nature that is superior to many manmade alternatives

“…However, these genes contain several repeat motifs that can be spliced out by bacteria in fermentation systems. As a result, these bacteria continually truncate silk genes, leading to shorter silk proteins ( Mukhopadhyay and Sakthivel 2005 ). Bacterial fermentation tends to produce insoluble inclusion bodies of silk that must then be resolubilized and refolded prior to use.…”

“…During its lifetime, a spider creates different kinds of silk fibers; the strongest of all is the dragline silk. Dragline silk is the lifeline of a spider and is used for making the frame of the web ( Lazaris et al 2002 , Mukhopadhyay andSakthivel 2005 ). The properties of dragline silk are amazing, and producing them has long been considered as the " Holy Grail " of material engineering.…”

Spider silk protein structure analysis by FTIR and STXM spectromicroscopy techniques

“…[1] Ces propriétés ont piqué la curiosité de déterminer la structure des protéines des fibres de soie qui pourrait permettre éventuellement la production des soies synthétiques. [2] Cette étude compare les spectres mi-infrarouges (Mi IR) de soie de cinq espèces différentes d'araignée afin de trouver des similitudes entre les espèces et les genres de toiles. Les résultats démontrent que les spectres mi-infrarouges de tout type de soie d'araignée étudié sont similaires, présentant des apogées de protéines dans les régions de l'Amide I et II.…”

“…[1] These properties have sparked interest in determining the protein structures of the silk fibers allowing for the production of synthetic silks. [2] This study compares the mid-infrared (Mid IR) spectra of silk from five different spider species to investigate the commonalities between species and web type. The results demonstrate the Mid IR spectra from all types of spider silk to be similar, showing protein peaks in the Amide I and II regions.…”