The tough, extendable, energy-dissipating properties of the casemaker caddisfly’s adhesive silk are down to a self-recovering network of calcium crosslinks, new research shows. US researchers behind the discovery hope to harness these findings to design new synthetic bioadhesives that can adhere to wet tissues.
Images (l and m) of silk holding together glass beads in the same way that silk and stones combine to make the body armour (r)
To read the full article visit Chemistry World.
Self-recovering caddisfly silk: energy dissipating, Ca2+-dependent, double dynamic network fibers
Nicholas N. Ashton and Russell J. Stewart
Soft Matter, 2015, Advance Article
DOI: 10.1039/C4SM02435D, Paper
