![]() mori have been domesticated for thousands of years and the ability to collect silk at industrial scales makes this a popular biomaterial for creating nanocomposites. The exact way the protein structures auto-align themselves into these super biomaterials is still poorly understood and is a topic of ongoing research. The unique mechanical properties are a result of the combination of protein structures that include semi-amorphous α-helix regions that contribute to the silk’s elasticity and crystalline β-sheets that give the material its strength. Silk from Mulberry Silkworm (i.e., Bombyx mori) cocoons and spider silk have been a focus for material science because of their incredible tensile properties and biocompatibility. However, most of this research is still at the preliminary stages of proof of concept and results vary between experiments. The ability to combine the strongest known synthesized material (e.g., graphene and nanotubes) with the toughest known biological materials in nature (e.g., silkworm silk, spider silk) could lead to the creation of remarkable new bio-synthetic super materials. GS formed into CNTs have been shown to be the strongest synthesized material, with a strength two orders of magnitude greater than steel at only 1/6 th the weight. Due to their unique thermal, structural and mechanical properties, there have been numerous applications of graphene sheets (GS) and its allotropes such as carbon nanotubes (CNTs) in the fields of electronics and medicine. The funders played no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.Ĭompeting interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.Ĭarbon nanomaterials have been a major focus of scientific research beginning with the first discovery of fullerene allotropes in the late 1980s and in particular since the isolation and extraction of 2D graphene sheets in 2004. #107-2811-B-029-001, along with additional funding to the labs of IMT from Ministry of Science and Technology, R.O.C. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.ĭata Availability: All relevant data are within the manuscript and its Supporting Information files.įunding: This study was financially assisted by a postdoctoral fellowship to SPK through the Ministry of Science and Technology, R.O.C. Received: NovemAccepted: OctoPublished: November 9, 2020Ĭopyright: © 2020 Kelly et al. ![]() PLoS ONE 15(11):Įditor: Bawadi Abdullah, Universiti Teknologi Petronas, MALAYSIA (2020) Mechanical and structural properties of major ampullate silk from spiders fed carbon nanomaterials. Researchers should be encouraged to continue to do these types of investigations in order to build a strong consensus and solid foundation for how to go forward with these new methods for creating novel biomaterials.Ĭitation: Kelly SP, Huang K-P, Liao C-P, Khasanah RAN, Chien FS-S, Hu J-S, et al. This study represents an example for the importance of attempting to replicate previously published research. There was no apparent incorporation of carbon nanomaterials in the silk fibers that could be detected with Raman spectroscopy and there were no significant improvements in mechanical properties. ![]() Raman spectroscopy was then used to test for the presence of nanomaterials in silk samples. Major ampullate silk was collected and a tensile tester was used to determine mechanical properties for pre- and post-treatment samples. Spiders were collected from the field and in the lab were fed solutions by pipette containing either graphene sheets or nanotubes. The objective of this study was to incorporate carbon nanomaterials into the silk of an orb-weaving spider, Nephila pilipes, by feeding them solutions containing graphene and carbon nanotubes. To improve these natural fibers, researchers have begun to try infusing metals and carbon nanomaterials to improve mechanical properties of spider silk. The dragline silk of spiders is of particular interest to science due to its unique properties that make it an exceptional biomaterial that has both high tensile strength and elasticity.
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