Hamburg - In a scenario from a "Spiderman" movie, a team of German scientists has succeeded in making spider silk significantly more break-resistant and ductile through the addition of metal ions to the natural strands. The "infiltrated spider silk," as it is being called by the German researchers at the Max Planck Institute of Microstructure Physics, is stronger than a metal wire of the same thickness. This means that a spider's web would have the tensile strength of a wire- mesh window screen.
The fact that spider silk treated with metal ions does not break under enormous tension is just one of the advantages it has to offer.
"It can be expanded twice as much as natural spider silk," research team head Mato Knez told the journal Science.
Materials with such properties could also be used in aircraft and vehicle construction or in space technology, generally for any application that requires light, strong, and flexible materials.
"Our work promises great potential in terms of practical applications, as many other bio-materials can be made more break- resistant and ductile using our method," Knez was quoted as saying.
However, it is unlikely that metal-ion enhanced spider silk could one day be used to build suspension bridges or lift elevators in mile-high skyscrapers, he warned.
"It would probably be more or less impossible to obtain large volumes of natural spider silk," said Knez.
He explained that the arachnids are very difficult to keep and are not particularly productive when it comes to spinning their silk. But he is certain that there will be plenty of practical applications, albeit on a smaller scale.
"We are pretty certain that we will also be able to improve the properties of synthetic materials that imitate natural ones using our process."
