Silk proteins are synthesized in the middle and posterior silk glands of silkworms, then transit into the anterior of the silk gland, where the silk fibers are produced, stored and processed. The mechanism of formation and spinning of the silk fibers has not been fully elucidated, and transcriptome analyses specific to the anterior silk gland have not been reported. In the present study, we exp...

New methods are being developed to enable the production of value-added materials from high-volume, low-cost feedstocks arising from domestic recycling streams. In this work, recycled bottle-grade polyethylene terephthalate, polystyrene, and polypropylene were spun into fibers from the melt using a centrifugal spinning technique. Mono-component fibers and 50/50 blends of each polymer and a 33/3...

The mechanical properties of rodlike cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) suggest great potential as bioderived reinforcement in (nano)composites. Poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVOH) is a useful industrial material and very compatible with CNC chemistry. High performance CNC/PVOH composite fibers were produced coaxial coagulation spinning, followed by hot-drawing. We showed that CNCs increase the alignment and...

The properties of a polymer are strongly influenced by its morphology. In the case of fibers from semicrystalline polymers this consists of the degree of crystallinity, the spacing and alignment of the crystalline regions, and molecular orientation of the polymer chains in the amorphous regions. Information on crystallinity and orientation can be obtained from X-ray analysis. In-situ X-ray char...

Ni–Mn–Ga polycrystalline alloy fibers with diameters of 33 μm are reported to exhibit significantly improved ductility and huge superelastic and shape memory strains in comparison to conventional brittle bulk polycrystalline alloys. Particularly, the recoverable strain of the Ni54.9–Mn23.5–Ga21.6 fiber can be as high as 10% at 40 ◦C. Such optimized behavior has been achieved by a suitable fabri...

Recombinant spider silk has emerged as a biomaterial that can circumvent problems associated with synthetic and naturally derived polymers, while still fulfilling the potential of native material. The artificial protein NT2RepCT be produced spun into fibers without use harsh chemicals here we evaluate key properties dope at native-like concentrations. We show recapitulates not only overall seco...

Spider silk fibers were produced through an alternative processing route that differs widely from natural spinning. The process follows a procedure traditionally used to obtain fibers directly from the glands of silkworms and requires exposure to an acid environment and subsequent stretching. The microstructure and mechanical behavior of the so-called spider silk gut fibers can be tailored to c...

Despite widespread use of silk, it remains a significant challenge to fabricate fibers with properties similar to native silk. It has recently been recognized that the key to tuning silk fiber properties lies in controlling internal structure of assembled β-sheets. We report an advance in the precise control of silk fiber formation with control of properties via microfluidic solution spinning. ...

A method is described for the wet spinning of alginate fibers with a loading of single-walled carbon nanotubes as high as 23 wt%. Electrostatic assembling of polyelectrolytes and nanotubes coated with sodium dodecyl sulfate is exploited by using calcium as a cross-linking agent. The Young’s modulus of these fibers depends non-monotonically on nanotube concentration which is explained using Halp...