Artificial spider silk from ion-doped and twisted core-sheath hydrogel fibres.

ABSTRACT: Spider silks show unique combinations of strength, toughness, extensibility, and energy absorption. To date, it has been difficult to obtain spider silk-like mechanical properties using non-protein approaches. Here, we report on an artificial spider silk produced by the water-evaporation-induced self-assembly of hydrogel fibre made from polyacrylic acid and silica nanoparticles. The artificial spider silk consists of hierarchical core-sheath structured hydrogel fibres, which are reinforced by ion doping and twist insertion. The fibre exhibits a tensile strength of 895 MPa and a stretchability of 44.3%, achieving mechanical properties comparable to spider silk. The material also presents a high toughness of 370 MJ m^-3 and a damping capacity of 95%. The hydrogel fibre shows only ~

SUBMITTER: Dou Y 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6874677 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature