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Issue 6, 2006
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The spinning processes for spider silk

Xin Chen,a   Zhengzhong Shao*a  and  Fritz Vollrathb  
Author affiliations

* Corresponding authors

a The Key Laboratory of Molecular Engineering of Polymers, Department of Macromolecular Science, Fudan University, Shanghai, People's Republic of China
E-mail: zzshao@fudan.edu.cn

b Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford, UK

Abstract

This paper summarizes recent work in our groups on the factors that influence the formation of spider silks during the spinning process. The review encompasses: (a) extrusion variables that greatly affect the mechanical properties of the silk filaments; such as rate and temperature at spinning as well as the post-drawn treatment and (b) other factors affecting the conformation transition of the spider silk proteins (spidroin) such as pH and metallic ions. The observations taken together imply that the spinning process is at least as central as, and probably more important than, the composition of the ‘raw’ protein spinning solution. This conclusion leads us to suggest that in the future high-performance, artificial ‘spider’ silks may be spun from a range of solutions of silk and synthetic proteins.

Graphical abstract: The spinning processes for spider silk

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Article information

https://doi.org/10.1039/B601286H
Submitted
26 Jan 2006
Accepted
05 Apr 2006
First published
09 May 2006
Soft Matter, 2006,2, 448-451
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The spinning processes for spider silk

X. Chen, Z. Shao and F. Vollrath, Soft Matter, 2006, 2, 448
DOI: 10.1039/B601286H

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