Publication

Shedding light on the optical properties of spider silk fiber

Luc Thévenaz, Kenny Hey Tow, Isabelle Dicaire, Desmond Chow Ming Chia
2015
Conference Papers

Abstract

Optical characterisation of a Nephila edulis spider dragline silk is performed. The silk fiber transmits light up to 1400 nm with a propagation loss of ∼9 dB/cm and birefringence of 8×10−3 measured at 1302 nm.

Official source

https://infoscience.epfl.ch/entities/publication/477e4043-309e-4b1b-a7cc-ccc79c356f8b

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Luc Thévenaz, Kenny Hey Tow, Isabelle Dicaire, Desmond Chow Ming Chia
2015
Conference Papers

Abstract

Official source

https://infoscience.epfl.ch/entities/publication/477e4043-309e-4b1b-a7cc-ccc79c356f8b

About this result

Related concepts (6)

Spider silk

Spider silk is a protein fibre spun by spiders. Spiders use their silk to make webs or other structures, which function as sticky nets to catch other animals, or as nests or cocoons to protect their offspring, or to wrap up prey. They can also use their silk to suspend themselves, to float through the air, or to glide away from predators. Most spiders vary the thickness and stickiness of their silk for different uses. In some cases, spiders may even use silk as a source of food.

Fiber

Fiber or fibre (British English; from fibra) is a natural or artificial substance that is significantly longer than it is wide. Fibers are often used in the manufacture of other materials. The strongest engineering materials often incorporate fibers, for example carbon fiber and ultra-high-molecular-weight polyethylene. Synthetic fibers can often be produced very cheaply and in large amounts compared to natural fibers, but for clothing natural fibers can give some benefits, such as comfort, over their synthetic counterparts.

Silk

Silk is a natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be woven into textiles. The protein fiber of silk is composed mainly of fibroin and is produced by certain insect larvae to form cocoons. The best-known silk is obtained from the cocoons of the larvae of the mulberry silkworm Bombyx mori reared in captivity (sericulture). The shimmering appearance of silk is due to the triangular prism-like structure of the silk fibre, which allows silk cloth to refract incoming light at different angles, thus producing different colors.

Related publications (3)

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Since a few decades our planet has been loaded with billion tons of synthetic polymer-based materials, commonly named plastics. The large scale of plastic production, associated with its limited recyclability, are the driving force for the accumulation of ...

EPFL2021

From spider webs to a fibre-optic chemical sensor

Luc Thévenaz, Isabelle Dicaire, Desmond Chow Ming Chia, Kenny Hey Tow

From the spider’s perspective, silk is not only a building material but also a safety net, a weapon and a sensory organ to detect the presence of prey on its web. For scientists, dragline silk - directly extracted from spiders - is a tough, biodegradable a ...

2016

Towards a novel "silky" way to detect chemical species using spider threads

Luc Thévenaz, Isabelle Dicaire, Desmond Chow Ming Chia, Kenny Hey Tow

Silk possesses extraordinary properties that scientists are currently working hard on harnessing. Amongst them, this primeval material has shown early potential of having excellent optical properties. Through a regeneration process, it is possible to obtai ...

2016