Brown recluse spider's nanometer scale ribbons of stiff extensible silk.

Schniepp HC, Koebley SR, Vollrath F

The silk of the recluse spider features a ribbon-like morphology unlike any other spider silk or synthetically spun polymer fiber. These protein ribbons represent free-standing polymer films with a thickness of about 50 nm. Stress-strain characterization of individual fibers via atomic force microscopy reveals that these ribbons, only a few molecular layers of protein thin, rival the mechanical performance of the best silks.

Keywords:

fiber spinning

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polymer thin films

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protein fibers

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silk