High-Tech Silk (IMAGE)

Tufts University

High-Tech Silk

Caption

Tougher than a bullet-proof vest yet synonymous with beauty and luxury, silks spun by worms and spiders are a masterpiece of nature whose properties have yet to be fully replicated in the laboratory. But Tufts University biomedical engineers report that success in unraveling the secrets of silk is taking silk from the world of textiles to technology. This silk card shows diffractive optics entirely constituted by pure silk obtained by pouring silk solution on nanopatterned molds and letting the solution dry and crystallize. The resulting film retains the pattern and is a free-standing optical component so flexible it can be rolled up.

Credit

Fiorenzo Omenetto/Tufts University

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Use only with appropriate caption and credit to Fiorenzo Omenetto/Tufts University

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