Uncover the Mystery of the Spider Silk Strength

Fibers were spun by spiders is thin and delicate, yet the spider silk is very strong, at least five times stronger than piano wire. Secrets of spider fiber strength was finally revealed by U.S. researchers from Arizona State University (ASU).

The research team found a way to obtain the various elastic properties of the silk fibers of spider webs as a whole by using sophisticated  laser light scattering techniques without having to cut it.

Female Nephila clavipes on her web. The web was characterized using Brillouin spectroscopy to directly and non-invasively determine the mechanical properties. (Picture from: http://phys.org/)

"Fiber spider has a combination of mechanical strength and unique elastic which makes it as one of the strongest materials," said Jeffery Yarger, a lecturer at the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at ASU that involved in the study. "This research provides the most complete understanding about the things that make spider fibers have its mechanical properties."

Cobwebs is a remarkable biological polymers, like collagen, the material on the skin and bones, but its structure is much more complicated. The chemists team of ASU study the molecular structure of the fibers, to produce variety of materials, ranging from bulletproof vests to artificial tendons.

The extent of the composition and mechanical properties of elastic spider silk that obtained by the ASU team greatly facilitates modeling efforts to understand the nature of the mechanical interaction and the molecular structure of silk that producing spider webs. This study result is published in the latest issue of Nature journal.

Female spider Argiope on her web. (Picture from: http://phys.org/)

"This information will be the blueprint for structural materials engineering that inspired by nature, such as the synthetic fiber materials engineering that appropriate to make the material stronger, elastic and stretchy," Yarger says.

Yarger and his team used Brillouin light scattering technique with laser power is very low, less than 3.5 milliwatts, even lower than the laser pointer. That record everything when a laser beam through the cobwebs, so scientists can make a spatial map of the elasticity level of every cobwebs without destroying it. This technique shows the variations between each fiber, intersections, and adhesion points.

For this study they used four types of spider webs, which are taken from species of spiders such as Nephila clavipes, A. aurantia, L. Hesperus and P. viridans. *** [EKA | FROM VARIOUS SOURCES | PHYSORG | SCIENCEDAILY | KORAN TEMPO 4129]

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