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Surface Characterization Of Nephila Clavipes Dragline Silk, Benoit Faugas

All Theses

To design synthetic fibers for extreme applications, many research groups are trying to identify how the structure of natural fibers (such as spider silk) leads to desirable properties such as high tensile strength.
Spider silk is a biological fiber having mechanical properties that exceed those of the best man made fibers in terms of high tensile strength and large extensibility, this combination providing the silk with a large work of rupture. While the bulk structure, composition and properties have been intensively studied elsewhere, this study focuses on elucidating the Nephila clavipes spider dragline silk surface structure and composition, as well …