Spider silk’s amazing elastic properties inspire hybrid liquid wires
DOI: 10.1063/PT.5.029830
New Scientist : The capture silk that makes up the spiral of the orb-weaver spider’s web can be stretched like a spring and then compressed without sagging. According to a recent study by Arnaud Antkowiak of the Pierre and Marie Curie University in Paris and his colleagues, the spider’s silk is composed of a thread covered with glue droplets. Once thought to be used primarily for trapping insects, the glue droplets have a second purpose: They help keep the webbing taut. Unlike regular thread, which tends to sag after being stretched, the spider thread spools around the glue droplets. The researchers have now copied that molecular nanospring behavior by using plastic filaments coated with silicone oil and other liquids. The material could have several practical uses in robotics, microfabrication, and other technologies.
