Technique could further our understanding of spider silk

The scientists at Arizona State University (ASU) used the technique to obtain a variety of elastic properties of silk from several intact spiders’ webs.

‘Spider silk has a unique combination of mechanical strength and elasticity that makes it one of the toughest materials we know,’ said Prof Jeffery Yarger of ASU’s Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, and lead researcher of the study. ‘This work represents the most complete understanding we have of the underlying mechanical properties of spider silks.’

Spider silk is a biological polymer related to collagen but is more complex in its structure. The ASU team of chemists is studying its molecular structure in an effort to produce a range of materials.

The array of elastic and mechanical properties of spider silks in situ, obtained by the ASU team, is believed to be the first of its kind, and is claimed to ‘greatly facilitate’ future modelling efforts aimed at understanding the interplay of the mechanical properties and the molecular structure of silk used to produce spider webs.