Product category:
Liquid Analysis: Viscosity, Density
News Release from: Malvern Instruments | Subject: Gemini HR Nano
Edited by the Processingtalk Editorial
Team on 08 June 2007
Malvern rheometer helps search for
perfect silk
Oxford researchers are closer to understanding why it has been impossible to artificially spin protein fibres with the superb material properties of the natural silks of spiders and silkworms
Using a Bohlin Gemini HR Nano rheometer from Malvern Instruments, Chris Holland and Professor Fritz Vollrath, together with Dr Ann Terry and Dr David Porter, took un-spun natural silk dope and compared it to artificial silk dope under shear forces similar to those encountered in a natural spinning duct Optimised for the control of ultra-low torques, the Gemini HR nano is ideal for probing sensitive material structures and allowing measurement of low volume samples
This article was originally published on Processingtalk on 28 Nov 2006 at 8.00am (UK)
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Researchers at Oxford University have published work comparing the rheology of spider and silkworm spinning dope - the liquid material from which solid fibres are spun
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The research group discovered fundamental differences in kind, not just in degree, between the natural and artificial silk dopes.
This research builds on previous work by the Oxford group, which demonstrated that the flow characteristics of native spider and silkworm dopes are very similar despite the independent evolution of the two silks.
Such convergence of the two distinct materials towards an identical flow behaviour strongly suggests that dope rheology is a key to the production of high-performance protein fibres.
Native silk dope taken straight from the gland can easily be drawn into strong fibres, but the fibres from artificial dope cannot be spun into any type of serious filament without unnatural treatment using strong chemicals.
Clearly, native silk dopes have the innate ability to form into a fibre, which is lost in translation when attempting to create artificial silk dope.
Discovering the mechanisms behind this seemingly effortless process will be a crucial step towards the biomimetic spinning of artificial silk fibres using the animal's own technology.
Further details of the research work can be seen on www.admin.ox.ac.uk/po/070601a.shtml and www.oxfordsilkgroup.com.
The Research paper reference is: Holland, C, Terry, AE, Porter, D and Vollrath F, 'Natural and Unnatural Silks':in the journal Polymer 48, 3388 - 3392 (June 2007). Request a free brochure from Malvern Instruments ...
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