From what was
A new material made of wood fibers and spider silk can compete with plastic
Researchers from Aalto University and VTT Research Center (Finland) have created a new material on a biological basis by combining wood pulp fibers and silk protein found in the threads of the web. The result is a very durable and elastic material, which in the future can be used as a possible replacement for plastic, the press service of Aalto University reports. The results of the work are published in the journal Science Advances (Mohammadi et al., Biomimetic composites with enhanced hardening using silk-inspired triblock proteins and aligned nanocellulose reinforcements).
Under load, from which the fibers of pure nanocellulose begin to tear, the composite material retains its strength. Figure from an article in Science Advances – VM.
According to Markus Linder, professor at Aalto University, nature offers excellent ingredients for the development of new materials, such as strong and easily accessible cellulose and hard and flexible silk. The advantage of both materials is that, unlike plastic, they are biodegradable and do not harm nature.
The team of scientists used birch as a wood raw material: the wood was divided into nanofbrils (the smallest cellulose particles) and made of them rigid frames. Spider silk protein was then added to these "mesh" frames. Silk is a natural fiber produced by some insects (for example, silkworms) and spiders. However, the silk proteins used by specialists from Aalto University were not obtained from the web: the researchers created it with the help of bacteria with recombinant DNA.
"Since we know the structure of DNA, we can copy it and use it to produce silk protein molecules, which are chemically similar to those contained in the threads of the web. DNA contains all this information," explains Linder.
The new material can be used in the future instead of plastic, as well as included in the composition of biocompositional materials, used in surgical fibers, in the production of textiles and packaging.
Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru