Spider silk as archetypal protein elastomer.

@article{Vollrath2006SpiderSA,
  title={Spider silk as archetypal protein elastomer.},
  author={Fritz Vollrath and David Porter},
  journal={Soft matter},
  year={2006},
  volume={2 5},
  pages={
          377-385
        }
}
We present an overview of the physical properties of spider silks, and introduce a model designed to study the energy absorbed by the material as it stretches before breaking. Of particular interest are the inter- and intramolecular hydrogen bonds as well as the role of water in modifying the material properties of silk. A solid understanding of this interaction is of paramount importance for any deeper insights into the mechanical properties of any biomaterial. Here we note that the typical… 
View on PubMed
doi.org
213 Citations
Highly Influential Citations
2
Background Citations
39
Methods Citations
8
Results Citations
3

213 Citations

The Thin Ribbon Silk of the Brown Recluse Spider: Structure, Mechanical Behavior, and Biomimicry
Silk has enormous potential as a next-generation material: it is a biopolymer spun from protein at ambient temperature and pressure, and the best spider silks are as strong as steel and tougher than…
The use of spider silk as a biomaterial
Spider silk: understanding the structure-function relationship of a natural fiber.
Spider silk as a load bearing biomaterial: tailoring mechanical properties via structural modifications.
TLDR
The means by which the mechanical properties of spider silk, particularly the yield strain, can be optimized through structural modifications are discussed.
Spider Silk: Factors Affecting Mechanical Properties and Biomimetic Applications
Spiders are using different silks to achieve a variety of tasks. Spider silks might be the toughest natural material, and therefore they serve as model polymers for the development of biomimetic…
Silks as ancient models for modern polymers
Structural heterogeneity in silk fibers and its effects on failure mechanics and supercontraction
Spider dragline silk is a protein material that has evolved over millions of years to become one of the strongest and toughest natural fibers known. Silk features a heterogeneous structure that…
With great structure comes great functionality: Understanding and emulating spider silk
The overarching aim of biomimetic approaches to materials synthesis is to mimic simultaneously the structure and function of a natural material, in such a way that these functional properties can be…
Biomimetic principles of spider silk for high-performance fibres
Abstract: The desirable properties of silk and the relationships between structure and composition are explored. Fibres spun from feedstocks with identical rheology have differing mechanical…
The science of silks
Comparative silk research has begun to provide us with valuable insights into a class of biopolymers that have evolved an enormous range of material performance based on highly adapted…
...
...

References

SHOWING 1-10 OF 71 REFERENCES
Spider silk as a model biomaterial
Spider silk combines strength and extensibility, and a wide range of mechanical properties can be achieved with only minute (if any) changes in chemical structure. It appears that the full range of…
Predicting the mechanical properties of spider silk as a model nanostructured polymer
TLDR
Research shows that the full range of thermo-mechanical properties of silk fibres can be predicted from mean field theory for polymers in terms of chemical composition and the degree of order in the polymer structure, demonstrating an inherent simplicity at a macromolecular level in the design principles of natural materials.
Spider silk as rubber
The silks produced by spiders are exceptional structural materials. Although their tensile strengths are similar to those of cellulose, collagen and chitin, their extensibilities are considerably…
The mechanical design of spider silks: from fibroin sequence to mechanical function.
TLDR
Comparison of MA silks from Araneus diadematus and Nephila clavipes shows variation in fibroin sequence and properties between spider species provides the opportunity to investigate the design of these remarkable biomaterials.
Structural organization of spider silk
Spider silks are protein polymers with outstanding physical properties. A benchmark for spider silks is the dragline thread of the golden silk spider Nephila. Our study using urea super-contraction…
The effect of solvents on the contraction and mechanical properties of spider silk
Fibrillar structure and mechanical properties of collagen.
TLDR
It was observed that the strain within collagen fibrils is always considerably smaller than in the whole tendon, which points toward the existence of additional gliding processes occurring at the interfibrillar level.
Silk-based biomaterials.
Modulation of the mechanical properties of spider silk by coating with water
THE orb web of the garden cross spider Araneus diadetnatus is made up of two types of thread with distinctive mechanical properties: stiff radial threads which sag when contracted by only 10%, and…
Liquid crystallinity of natural silk secretions
NATURAL silk exhibits a strength and stiffness similar to, and a toughness up to ten times greater than, that of artificial high-performance fibres1–5. These exceptional tensile properties, the…
...
...