Expanding the Properties of Artificial Spider Silk

ended

Spider silk is a material with remarkable biological and mechanical properties. Unfortunately, the cannibalistic nature of spiders makes it impossible to harvest natural silk at large quantities, whereas artificial silk production has historically suffered from poor quality, low yields, and environmentally harmful protocols. Overcoming these limitations, Prof. Anna Rising (host) has recently developed a biomimetic spinning setup for generating high quality artificial silk fibres that uses water as the sole solvent and scales volume for economically feasible mass-production. Although remarkable, the fibres generated still require improved mechanical and electromagnetic properties to achieve their full potential in the envisioned biomedical and soft electronics applications. By combining the host’s expertise in protein biochemistry and biotechnology with my (Dr. Greco, fellow) skills in mechanical and materials engineering, EPASS aims to improve the mechanical and electromagnetic properties of artificial silk fibres by spinning fibres from protein solutions containing carbon nanotubes and magnetic nanoparticles. After establishing an optimized spinning protocol for the introduction of nanomaterials, a new generation of modified silk fibres will be spun and analysed morphologically, mechanically and electromagnetically, delivering a novel strategy for generating silk fibres with custom-made properties that are highly needed in the area of soft electronics. With additional expertise gained from a secondment and short-term visit, EPASS will create a strong foundation for state-of-the-art research and extensive knowledge sharing between researchers and organisations. In summary, EPASS will integrate novel methodologies to create a new generation of scalable green materials with breakthrough potential in soft electronics, while simultaneously shaping a new research line - functionalized spider silk - which I will pioneer, thus boosting my future career as research leader.