Spiders’ silk gives strength to wood-based bioplastics

The scientists, from Aalto University and VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, mimicked spider silk using bacteria with synthetic DNA. The analogous silk protein was then glued together with wood cellulose to form a bio-based composite that could be used in medical applications, as well as the textile industry and packaging.

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“We used birch tree pulp, broke it down to cellulose nanofibrils and aligned them into a stiff scaffold,” said VTT research scientist Pezhman Mohammadi. “At the same time, we infiltrated the cellulosic network with a soft and energy dissipating spider silk adhesive matrix.

“Our work illustrates the new and versatile possibilities of protein engineering. In future, we could manufacture similar composites with slightly different building blocks and achieve a different set of characteristics for other applications. Currently we are working on making new composite materials as implants, impact resistance objects and other products.”