Reconstituted silk tagged posts

A photograph shows regenerated helical silk fibers colored by Rhodamine dyes, under UV light. Credit: Courtesy of the researchers

Reconstituted silk can be several times stronger than the natural fiber and made in different forms. When it comes to concocting the complex mix of molecules that makes up fibers of natural silk, nature beats human engineering hands down. Despite efforts to synthesize the material, artificial varieties still cannot match the natural fiber’s strength. But by starting with silk produced by silkworms, breaking it down chemically, and then reassembling it, engineers have found they can make a material that is more than twice as stiff as its natural counterpart and can be shaped into complex structures such as meshes and lattices...