Understanding Natural Silks and Their Integration into Composites

Abstract : The extreme toughness of many spider silks depends (i) on the folding of the component proteins as much as (ii) on the hierarchical structures of the multi-protein threads. The spider's complex spinning process plays a major role in the folding and formation of the hierarchy of the silk threads. This is a process that is largely devoted to the controlled extraction of water. Our research project offered, firstly, an important approach towards a full understanding of silk structure-properties relationships by examining the underlying principles and design characteristics responsible not only for dehydration of silk feedstock into silk fibre but also for re-hydration, i.e. the reconstitution and reformation of silk fibre into silk feedstock. The second goal of our research was a better understanding of the use of silks in composites; to this effect we expanded our studies of analyzing silks integrated into natural composites by beginning exploratory investigations of interactions and integration with synthetic/commercial matrix materials.