Menu Close

Nanotube-coated spider silk: the new material in electronics?

Spider silk coated in nano-tubing could become a new material used in everyday electronics. Known as the the toughest material made by organisms, it is up to 10 times stronger than Kevlar, new research has discovered.

Enhancing it with nanotubes could open up possibilities for many different applications, such as artificial skin or synthetic tendons. Its ability to contract greatly suggests it could be used in artificial muscles for robots or prosthetic limbs.

Its great strength and flexibility has attracted much interest in being used in electronics, but this depends on how compatible researchers can make it with electricity conductive materials such as carbon.

Read more at Florida State University, University of Baghdad, Institucio Catalana de Recerca I Estudis Avancats

Want to write?

Write an article and join a growing community of more than 180,400 academics and researchers from 4,911 institutions.

Register now