Science Just Made Spider-Man-Esque Web Shooters A Real Possibility
Science is awesome.Researchers discovered a way to give silk Spider-Man-esque qualities by feeding [...]
Science is awesome.
Researchers discovered a way to give silk Spider-Man-esque qualities by feeding silkworms a substance called graphene.
Graphene, or single-walled carbon nanotubes, are exceptionally strong. Like, Spider-Man-web strong. And now silkworms are able to crank out graphene-modified silk in abundance.
Researchers at Tsinghua University fed silkworms mulberry leaves sprayed with an aqueous solution containing graphene, then collected the silk after it was produced. The results were astounding.
The graphene-laced silk is at least 50 percent stronger than normal silk, which is already surprisingly resilient. What's even more impressive is that after the silk fibers are heated to 1,050 celsius they can conduct electricity, opening up a new world of technological possibilities.
In this study, researchers fed the silkworms only a very small amount of graphene, but if they can get the silkworms to consume more of the substance and incorporate it into their silk, then creating Spider-Man-esque web shooters is something that's entirely possible.
Thank you, Science.