Spider silk - a new material system: more environmentally friendly and superior in mechanical features.

Spider silk is a super durable material: harder than steel, tougher than nylon, made up of proteins and amino acids (amino acids).

Since more than 30 years ago, the magic of spider silk has been known by mankind. Although only 10% of the thickness of a human hair, spider silk can resist the flight speed of up to 32 km / h of insects such as bees, butterflies, and mosquitoes.

(Source: Internet)

This 2-micrometer thick silk thread can bear an object weighing about ... 1g, equivalent to a 1 - 2mm thick thread bearing one weight 65kg.

I. Secrets of the power of spider silk

According to a study from civil and environmental engineer CEE (civil and environmental engineer) at MIT University.

(Source: CEE.mit.edu)

The strength of spider silk lies in the geometrical structure of the structural proteins, with many weak bonds between the hydrogen atoms. Thanks to these bonds when the material is under load that helps to dissipate the load and energy. Although the strength of hydrogen bonds is not as strong as the bonds in metals or the covalent bonds in Kevlar fibers (commonly used in bulletproof vests)

(Source: Internet)

But with a combination of three to four hydrogen bonds in the short, meandering beta chain gave spider silk a higher strength than steel.

II. Producing spider silk

Although spider silk has many advantages, it is difficult to keep the spiders for the silk due to their mutually carnivorous properties.

(Source: Internet)

Whether a solution has been found to synthesize artificial silk by many methods, typically researchers from Nexia, a Canadian biotechnology company, with the cooperation of scientists from SBCCOM Company. The US military has successfully manufactured artificial spider silk.

Jeffrey Turner, President, and CEO of Nexia revealed genetic engineering secrets that helped make the dream of mass-producing spider silk a reality. His team isolated the spider silk gene codes, then added them to mammalian cells, first experimenting with goat cells.

(Source: Internet)

These transgenic goats can make proteins that are identical to the proteins that make up spider silk.

III. Realistic application and future prospects of spider silk

In medicine, spider silk is widely used because of its protein composition, it can be tolerated by the human body without causing any side effects. Applications such as:

• Surgical sutures

• Artificial ligaments

• Artificial leather

• Dressing the wound

In addition, due to its superior mechanical properties as well as biodegradation, spider silk has been gradually replacing plastic materials. Typically, a recent study by scientists at Aalto University (Finland) _ published on 5th September 2019 in Science Advances combined cellulose nanofibers and recombinant proteins similar to spider silk to produce new materials, with high strength and elasticity like plastic but highly biodegradable and environmentally friendly.

(link article: https://advances.sciencemag.org/content/5/9/eaaw2541)