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Spider Silk Made Stronger by Feeding Spiders Graphene or Carbon Nanotubes

posted by martyb on Thursday August 17 2017, @07:51AM   Printer-friendly
from the carbon-ated-spiders dept.

takyon writes:

Spider silk can be made stronger by feeding the spiders that produce the silk aqueous dispersions containing graphene or carbon nanotubes:

[Researchers] in Italy and the UK have found a way to make [spider] silk a lot stronger, using various different spider species and carbon nanotubes or graphene. The research team, led by Professor Nicola Pugno at the University of Trento, Italy, succeeded in having their spiders produce silk with up to three times the strength and ten times the toughness of the regular material.

[...] "We already know that there are biominerals present in in the protein matrices and hard tissues of insects, which gives them high strength and hardness in their jaws, mandibles and teeth, for example. So our study looked at whether spider silk's properties could be 'enhanced' by artificially incorporating various different nanomaterials into the silk's biological protein structures."

To do this, the team exposed three different spider species to water dispersions containing carbon nanotubes or graphene. After collecting the spiders' silk, the team tested its tensile strength and toughness. Professor Pugno said: "We found that the strongest silk the spiders spun had a fracture strength up to 5.4 gigapascals (GPa), and a toughness modulus up to 1,570 joules per gram (J/g). Normal spider silk, by comparison, has a fracture strength of around 1.5 GPa and a toughness modulus of around 150 J/g.

Spider silk reinforced by graphene or carbon nanotubes (DOI: 10.1088/2053-1583/aa7cd3) (DX)

Related: The Strongest Natural Material: Sea Snail Teeth
Synthetic Spider Silk Fiber Created

Original Submission

 
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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 18 2017, @09:54AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 18 2017, @09:54AM (#555801)

    Not sure what you are doing, either.

    for it to bee just trolling).

    I have heard of fishing flies that were made to look like bees, but seriously, fly fishing is just to subtle and nuanced to have any use here on SolyentNews. I suggest you go read "A River Runs Through It". McLean. Good book.

    So, trolling involves flashy lures, spinners and spoons and what not. But in this particular fishing hole, dynamite seems to be the preferred method. Drop the bomb, see what floats up. More often than not stunned jmorris, or incapacitated Buzzard. Neither of which is really worth keeping.

    Oh, and it is always alright to punch a Nazi! Doesn't matter what color of Nazi, just punch him. We need to protect the children, you know.