Research & Development World

  • R&D World Home
  • Topics
    • Aerospace
    • Automotive
    • Biotech
    • Careers
    • Chemistry
    • Environment
    • Energy
    • Life Science
    • Material Science
    • R&D Management
    • Physics
  • Technology
    • 3D Printing
    • A.I./Robotics
    • Software
    • Battery Technology
    • Controlled Environments
      • Cleanrooms
      • Graphene
      • Lasers
      • Regulations/Standards
      • Sensors
    • Imaging
    • Nanotechnology
    • Scientific Computing
      • Big Data
      • HPC/Supercomputing
      • Informatics
      • Security
    • Semiconductors
  • R&D Market Pulse
  • R&D 100
    • Call for Nominations: The 2025 R&D 100 Awards
    • R&D 100 Awards Event
    • R&D 100 Submissions
    • Winner Archive
    • Explore the 2024 R&D 100 award winners and finalists
  • Resources
    • Research Reports
    • Digital Issues
    • R&D Index
    • Subscribe
    • Video
    • Webinars
  • Global Funding Forecast
  • Top Labs
  • Advertise
  • SUBSCRIBE

Researchers Construct Mock Spider Webs from Graphene

By CORDIS | October 26, 2017

Spider silk has many fascinating mechanical properties which have attracted researchers’ attention. Now a team has matched one of nature’s wonders with graphene, currently the world’s strongest material, thereby opening the door to a new class of bionic composites.

Spider silk provides a combination of great strength ~1.5 GPa and toughness ~150 J g−1. To explore what would happen to those measurements if the spiders ingested graphene, researchers, supported by the EU-funded Graphene Flagship, sprayed solutions of graphene and carbon nanotubes (CNTs) around the enclosures in which the spiders were kept.

The team set out their research recently in a letter titled “Spider silk reinforced by graphene or carbon nanotubes,” published in the online journal 2D Materials. The solutions were ingested by the spiders and when the silk was then harvested it was found that the graphene and nanotubes had made their way into the silk. The team observed an increment of the mechanical properties with respect to pristine silk, up to a fracture strength ~5.4 GPa and a toughness measurement of ~1570 J g−1.

The research was led by Professor Nicola Pugno from Italy’s University of Trento who compared the strength shown by the enhanced silk as being comparable to limpet teeth or the strongest carbon fibers. “These are still early days, but our results are a proof of concept that paves the way to exploiting the naturally efficient spider spinning process to produce reinforced bionic silk fibers, thus further improving one of the most promising strong materials.”

Not only hugely strong, the fibers are biodegradable opening up new applications for textiles such as medical dressings.

A variety of projects helped to support the research: REPLICA2 (Large-area replication of biological anti-adhesive nanosurfaces), KNOTOUGH (Super-tough knotted fibers), and BIHSNAM (Bio-inspired Hierarchical Super Nanomaterials) all contributed. Graphene is an area of great interest and innovation and the EU’s Graphene Flagship is a key resource for furthering advances in this new domain.

Andrea Ferrari, director of the Cambridge Graphene Centre, Science and Technology Officer of the Graphene Flagship, and Chair of the Flagship’s management panel, told Science Daily, “The interaction between graphene and related materials and bio-materials is key to broadening their possible applications. This is one of many examples showing potential in this area. This work can help us to design novel composites with enhanced properties, taking inspiration from nature.”

Source: CORDIS

Related Articles Read More >

The emerging materials shaping next-generation semiconductor electronics
24 R&D trends that redefined 2024
Graphene-based flowmeter sensor measures nano-rate fluid flows, Part 3: The sensor
Graphene-based flowmeter sensor measures nano-rate fluid flows, Part 2: The graphene context
rd newsletter
EXPAND YOUR KNOWLEDGE AND STAY CONNECTED
Get the latest info on technologies, trends, and strategies in Research & Development.
RD 25 Power Index

R&D World Digital Issues

Fall 2024 issue

Browse the most current issue of R&D World and back issues in an easy to use high quality format. Clip, share and download with the leading R&D magazine today.

Research & Development World
  • Subscribe to R&D World Magazine
  • Enews Sign Up
  • Contact Us
  • About Us
  • Drug Discovery & Development
  • Pharmaceutical Processing
  • Global Funding Forecast

Copyright © 2025 WTWH Media LLC. All Rights Reserved. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of WTWH Media
Privacy Policy | Advertising | About Us

Search R&D World

  • R&D World Home
  • Topics
    • Aerospace
    • Automotive
    • Biotech
    • Careers
    • Chemistry
    • Environment
    • Energy
    • Life Science
    • Material Science
    • R&D Management
    • Physics
  • Technology
    • 3D Printing
    • A.I./Robotics
    • Software
    • Battery Technology
    • Controlled Environments
      • Cleanrooms
      • Graphene
      • Lasers
      • Regulations/Standards
      • Sensors
    • Imaging
    • Nanotechnology
    • Scientific Computing
      • Big Data
      • HPC/Supercomputing
      • Informatics
      • Security
    • Semiconductors
  • R&D Market Pulse
  • R&D 100
    • Call for Nominations: The 2025 R&D 100 Awards
    • R&D 100 Awards Event
    • R&D 100 Submissions
    • Winner Archive
    • Explore the 2024 R&D 100 award winners and finalists
  • Resources
    • Research Reports
    • Digital Issues
    • R&D Index
    • Subscribe
    • Video
    • Webinars
  • Global Funding Forecast
  • Top Labs
  • Advertise
  • SUBSCRIBE