Mechanical Engineering Commons^™

Thermal Characterization Of Natural And Synthetic Spider Silks By Both The 3Ω And Transient Electrothermal Methods, Troy Munro, Changhu Xing, Heng Ban, Cameron G. Copeland, Randolph V. Lewis, Colby Jensen

Faculty Publications

Thermal conductivity, thermal diffusivity and volumetric heat capacity of three spider silks are measured in this paper as a benchmark for further studies. These silks include the major and minor ampullate silks of the Nephila clavipes spider, and a synthetic spider silk fiber made from recombinant dragline silk proteins purified from transgenic goats’ milk. Two complementary measurement techniques are employed in the thermal characterization of these microscale single fibers for self-verification. One is the transient electrothermal technique (TET) and the other is the 3ω method. Experimental measurements indicate that thermal properties of the dragline silk are very close to those …