Published August 10, 2021 at 10.21
Domestic. Researchers from SLU and KI have found a way to spin artificial cobwebs on a large scale – a 125 km long one. For this, the same principles apply as the spider itself uses.
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Spider web is one of the strongest materials available. Researchers have long tried to develop artificial cobwebs for use in, for example, industry and for medical use.
The properties that cobwebs have means that it could replace other materials and thus provide both better durability and less environmental impact.
The problem has been to get a sufficient amount of cobwebs and to find a process where you do not need to use strong chemicals.
Research on artificial cobwebs has resulted in fibers that are strong enough to work for industrial applications, but a major problem is that the bacteria used in production produce too small amounts of cobweb protein and most methods of spinning fibers from these require uses strong solvents. Thus, new methods of production and spinning are needed.
A research group from Karolinska Institutet and the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences has previously succeeded in spinning artificial cobwebs according to the same principles that the spider uses. Now the same research group has succeeded in scaling up the production of cobwebs.
– In this study, we have developed a production method that provides ten times more cobweb protein than has ever been possible before, says research leader Anna Rising in a press release and continues:
– The amount of cobweb fiber that we get per cultivation cycle makes it possible to spin continuously for 75 hours, which results in a 125 km long fiber. Our process thus involves a major step forward towards the production of biomimetic cobwebs for industrial use.
The research group uses a biomimetic cobweb, ie. an apparatus that mimics how the cobweb is produced naturally. The cobweb proteins that have been spun into fibers have proven to be the toughest man-made cobwebs fibers that have been made with only aqueous solutions, without the strong chemicals that previously needed to be added.