Öйú365betÖÐÎĹÙÍø

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Unlike most spiders, which produce silk coated in a sticky glue, cribellate spiders� threads resemble a bristly wool that embeds into the bodies of their prey. During web-making, the spider’s comb, or calamistrum, grabs onto the nanofibers emerging from its abdomen and assembles them into threads. Anna-Christin Joel and colleagues wondered why the sticky nanofibers don’t cling to the spider’s comb. They figured that the answer could reveal new strategies for handling synthetic nanomaterials and nanofibers, which can be tacky.

The researchers began by shaving off the calamistrum from a group of “lace weaver� spiders. In contrast to normal spiders, those lacking combs showed a buildup of nanofibers where the comb should have been. The team also observed that in normal spiders, the surface of the comb was covered with fingerprint-like nanoripples. They found that this structure prevents nanofibers from closely contacting the surface of the spider’s leg in the region of the comb, reducing adhesive van der Waals forces. To make an artificial nonstick surface inspired by the spiders� combs, the researchers used lasers to pattern similar nanostructures onto poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) foils and then coated the foils with gold. When tested for antiadhesive properties against spider silk, the artificial comb performed almost as well as the natural version.

The authors acknowledge funding from the European Union’s  research and innovation program, the  of the German federal and state governments and the .

Note: ACS does not conduct research, but publishes and publicizes peer-reviewed scientific studies.