Chinese scientists create super-strong silk that leads to electricity

As the textile industry goes down, this may be a new dimension for silkworms studied and developed.

Silk is a wonderful natural material that has been exploited by humans throughout the history of development. It is a natural protein fiber and is one of the toughest fibers, often harvested from silkworm pupae.

The silk industry has been on a downward trend over the past 50 years because another "force" has gradually replaced it, which is the most synthetic and typical fibers of nylon . But that's still not the end of the threads we have been using for thousands of years, researchers are still looking for a new silk and still need the help of those silkworms.

These fibers are also capable of conducting electricity.

Last week, a group of Chinese chemists announced that they had created a tougher, more fibrous thread by a very special "diet" pup: carbon nanotubes. and graphene.

The idea of ​​these durable silk is not new. In the past, researchers have added dye-colored silk, antibacterial ingredients, a polymer capable of conducting electricity or nanoparticles into silk fibers. Or they put them directly into the fiber or they turn them into food for silkworms.

Initially, Chinese researchers did not find a way to get those ingredients into the silkworm, but then they found a very simple way. The researchers conducted spraying on mulberry leaves a solution containing carbon nanotubes and graphene. Silkworms eat that leaf and later, their silk releases the properties of a durable silk.

Simply spray that compound onto mulberry leaves for silkworms to eat.

"Such a traditional style of feeding will be easy to handle on a large scale, creating a new development path for mass-produced super-strong silk production," Chinese researchers said. "However, there are still questions we need to answer before conducting research, such as how much carbon nanotubes are enough for a diet of a silkworm, or the silk process will be affected. How to enjoy such additional materials ".

"More research is needed," they said, but this is still a new step, as this super-tough silk is about 50% more robust than silk, and even has the ability to conduct electricity . It is possible that this silk will be used in future electronics. There are still many other applications and silkworms still prove their place throughout thousands of years of human history.