Properties of Spider Silk
Properties of Spider Silk
Properties of Spider Silk
Mentor: Dr. Vilupanur A. Ravi, Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering, Cal Poly Pomona,
3801 West Temple Ave., Pomona, CA, 91768, jelopez@csupomona.edu, ysbazylev@csupomona.edu,
hkwong@csupomona.edu, jladkins@csupomona.edu
Spider silk is a natural material that has unique mechanical properties. These include high
mechanical strength and toughness, and strength-to-weight ratios five times that of steel fibers.
The structure of spider silk is of particular interest at the molecular level due to its effects on the
properties of the material, particularly its mechanical behavior. Research at Cal Poly Pomona
over the past few years has focused on evaluating the mechanical properties of fibers from
would form the basis for new material designs. Our focus in the current project has been on the
determination of the mechanical properties of spider silk produced by the Araneus gemma,
known as the orb weaver, and the Nephila clavipes, known as the giant golden orb weaver.
These two types of spider hang-line silk were tested in uniaxial tension using a mechanical test
frame - the Instron 3342. A 5 N load cell was used to obtain the load-extension data for the
analysis. The properties of these silks were compared to the silk from the Lactrodectus
geometricus, known as the brown widow spider, which was tested by the previous teams. The
effect of engineering strain rate on the ultimate tensile strength, extensibility, etc., of these silks
will be discussed. The behavior of spider silk will be discussed as a viscoelastic polymer. Ideas
for future research, e.g., silk-reinforced agar composites, cellular growth along silk strands,
characterization of the hang-line silk at different strain rates using the Instron tensile tester will
also be discussed.
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Narrative:
The motivation for this project is derived from the fascinating properties of spider silk that
include its high specific strength and structure. Spider silk is a biodegradable material that is
composed of very specific protein sequences that can potentially lead to biomedical applications
such as regenerative nerve growth in patients who have sustained nerve damage due to injury or
genetic predisposition [Allmeling, et al]. Other possible applications may include fluid body
armor that is able to conform to the human body and biodegradable thread that can be used for
surgical sutures. The silk formation occurs within the spider’s spinneret glands, which hold a
liquid protein that crystallizes upon ejection from the spinnerets (Figure 1).
theorized that the highly pressurized conditions the liquid protein is subjected to upon ejection
from the spinnerets causes them to crystallize and form the solid strands that we are able to
detect [Vollrath]. The hang-line silk itself is composed of many individual silk filaments which
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can be categorized into two key strands that compose the single visible strand. Those two strands
are the major and the minor ampullate, which are produced by the Major Ampullate Gland and
the Minor Ampullate Gland, respectively. The major ampullate acts as the main anchor which
supports the majority of the spider’s weight as it traverses its surroundings, while the minor
ampullate acts as the safety hook in the event that the major ampullate fractures. The
misconception about silk is that it is a woven fiber. In actuality, the two main silk strands are
ejected from the spider’s abdomen parallel to each other and are cemented together at the
The majority of the hang-line silk is composed of glycine and alanine rich protein regions, giving
the silk its unique properties. The glycine regions compose on average about 42% of the silk in
its protein structure, which greatly contribute to the silks’ high extensibility [Spider Silk &
Venom]. The alanine rich regions compose about 25% of the silk and its hydrogen bonded
structure gives the silk its incredible specific strength. These polyalanine regions are highly
crystalline structures due to the numerous hydrogen bonds which create beta-pleated sheets.
Though hydrogen bonds are weaker than ionic, covalent, and metallic bonds in materials, the
multitude of these bonds create a strong and dense structure. When the applied load reaches the
yield strength, these chains begin to slip past one another and as they do, they attempt to reform
the broken bonds and are thus able to re-support the applied load [Brehm, et al].
To properly characterize the properties of spider hang-line silk, we must have fresh silk samples
because of the rapid degradation of these fibers upon exposure to air. The spiders and frames
were kept in a room where the humidity and temperature were held constant. Their diet consisted
of crickets and bees. A limit of one spider per frame was used due to the cannibalistic nature of
the spiders. Specimens were collected on campus and silk diameter measurements were taken
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immediately upon collection using the Leica 4000-Dm optical microscope. After spiders were
collected, they were cared for utilizing an open air frame measuring 20” x 12” x 48” constructed
from tree branches and a cardboard box. To obtain silk diameter measurements, several readings
were taken from each visible strand under a 100X objective lens. The diameters of individual
strands that comprise a fiber were measured in at least 5 different longitudinal locations. The
average measurements for the individual strands were then summed to obtain the total diameter
of the silk fiber. These measurements showed that the L. geometricus had a silk with diameters
ranging between 2 and 5 µm. The A. gemma silk diameters ranged from 5 to 8 µm, and the N.
clavipes silk ranged from 10 to 17 µm in diameter. Tensile tests were then conducted using an
The silk samples were subjected to a constant engineering strain rate tensile test. As the silk
sample is extended, a continuously increasing load is applied until the sample fractures
completely. During the test, load and extension are continuously recorded. Using this
information, stress and strain are calculated by the software. Stress is the amount of load applied
to the sample, P, over the original cross sectional area of the spider silk, A0.
P
Tensile Stress σ=
A0
Strain is the change in length, ΔL, over the original test length of the sample.
ΔL
Tensile Strain ε=
L
Following completion of the test, a tensile stress (MPa) versus tensile strain (mm/mm) graph was
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engineering strain rate of 0.39 %/s. The engineering strain rate is calculated using the crosshead
speed, v(t), and the gage length of the specimen, l0 as shown in the equation below.
v (t )
Strain Rate ε =
L
There are several regions of interest for the stress strain curve. First, there is a linear, elastic
modulus portion occurring at the first 5% of strain. This elastic portion is due to the silk’s
stiffness as the hydrogen bonds are being loaded. The second portion is observed by the decrease
in modulus. The stiffness of the silk is reduced because the hydrogen bonds of the silk are
beginning to break due to the load and reform. Lastly, a single silk strand fractures at
approximately 400 MPa and the remaining silk strands attempt to carry the applied load. As the
specimen continues to be stretched, other silk strands continue to fracture until total silk fiber
fracture occurs. All silk samples exemplified these regions regardless of species.
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In order to compare the data that we obtained from the three spider species, we averaged the data
at the ultimate tensile stress and produced several graphs. Comparing tensile strength to strain
rate, it was expected that the tensile strength would increase with increasing strain rate.
However, the N. clavipes data displays an increasing trend initially, followed by a more complex
behavior with eventual decrease in strength as the strain rate continues to increase (Figure 3).
This contrasts with the behavior of the other silks which show an initial decrease in strength
followed by a more typical monotonic increase with increasing strain rate. The latter follows the
1000
Nephilia
800
600
400
200
0
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
Strain
Rate
(%/s)
Maximum tensile strain was also compared to strain rate in order to study their relationship
(Figure 4). For the N. clavipes, the maximum tensile strain initially decreases followed by an
increase and a subsequent decrease. On the other hand, both the L. Geometricus and A. Gemma
displayed a different behavior in regards to the same parameter. Figures 3 and 4 are
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complementary, i.e., increases in strength are associated with decreases in ductility. Our results
for N. Clavipes compare favorably with literature values [M. Elices et al].
0.3
Max
Tensile
Strain
vs
Strain
Rate
Max
Tensile
Strain
(mm/mm)
0.25
0.2
0.15
0.1
Gemma
0.05
Geometricus
Nephilia
0
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
Strain
Rate
(%/s)
In conclusion, the mechanical properties of the A. Gemma and the N. Clavipes spider silk were
determined, e.g., tensile strength, the tensile strain, etc. Comparisons were made between the
properties of the two types of silk above and L. Geometricus which was tested by the previous
team. We noticed all the silk samples that were tested followed a similar trend with the first 5%
of the tensile strain having a high modulus and then reaching a maximum tensile strain where the
different silk strands begin to break and the other strands take on the load showing a staggered
failure.
In the future, we plan to continue tensile testing with larger sample group sizes and at different
strain rates. We then plan to further characterize mechanical properties using the Dynamic
biological composites based on agar matrices reinforced by a silk weave. We will then perform
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degradation tests of the silk fibers in various biologically relevant media, such as saline, blood,
etc. The data collected from this experiment will allow us to approximate the period of time silk
will retain its useful properties in physiological conditions. To determine practical biomedical
applications of the silk, we will also experiment with controlled celled growth along the strand of
silk to determine any possible antimicrobial properties and biocompatibility. The combination of
the observed mechanical properties, biodegradability, microbial properties, and composite design
has the potential to lead to the development of a more readily available aid for generating nerve
References:
Brehm, Denise. "Nanotechnology Today." : Protein's Strength Lies in H-bond Cooperation VIDEO. N.p.,
26 Feb. 2008. Web. 16 Mar. 2013. <http://nanotechnologytoday.blogspot.com/2008/02/proteins-strength-
lies-in-h-bond.html>.
"Spider Silk & Venom." Spider Silk. University of Bristol, n.d. Web. Last accessed on 3/15/2013.
<http://www.chm.bris.ac.uk/motm/spider/page3.htm>.
Vollrath, Fritz. Strength and Structure of Spiders’ Silk. Reviews in Molecular Biotechnology.
74th ed. 2000: 67-83.
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