Chemistry and Technology of Advanced Polymers: A Review on Preparation Methods, Properties and Advanced Applications of Natural Spider Silk Fibers

Document Type : compile

Authors

1 Department of Polymer and Color Engineering, Amirkabir University of Technology, Tehran, Iran

2 Department of Chemistry, Institute for Advanced Studies in Basic Science (IASBS), Zanjan, Iran

Abstract

Silk is a natural fiber composed of proteins produced by some insects. Spiders produce protein macromolecules with different molecular structures for different applications. Spider web or other large protein structures are produced by the release of protein fibers from the spinning glands inside the spider's body, which act as a spinning instrument. Spider natural silk has received a lot of attention, due to its unique mechanical and physical properties, thermal resistance, biocompatibility, and biodegradability. These exceptional properties have led to the potential applications of spider silk fibers in production of bulletproof vest, artificial vessels, sensors, and etc. This interesting mechanical and physicochemical properties are due to the macromolecular structure of protein molecules as well as physical interactions between protein chains. derived from protein macromolecule’s structure, including the large protein sequences of the repeating units as well as physical interactions between protein chains and specific mechanisms such as tension, pH adjusting, and ion exchange in spinnerets of spider. Due to the remarkable difficulties in natural production of spider silk, other advanced techniques like inserting spider DNA in animals or bacteria is employed, but fibers produced by these methods do not have mechanical and physicochemical properties of natural spider silk lower molecular weight of the protein chains. Spider silk fibers have potential applications in pharmaceutical and military industries and this study can open a new window to the future of these fibers.

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