Armor made of spider silk

After years of effort, the scientific community may eventually find a way to create armor from spider silk that is both light and firm.

>>>Super materials from spider silk, human skin

Although not as heavy as medieval armor, today's armor is not an ideal equipment for soldiers on the battlefield. When fighting, the American soldiers were forced to wear a heavy and bulky hard armor. In order to be bulletproof, the jacket is equipped with at least two large thick ceramic plates, designed to protect the upper body from shrapnel and bullets fired from the barrel. But in order to increase the ability to shield, hard armor was sewn with more pockets to insert more ceramic plates, and as a result, the armor would be heavier and more bulky.

Spider Caerostris darwin raises record in spiders - (Photo: Bacroft Media)

The risk of gun deaths is 14 times higher in law enforcement officers without protective equipment. However, users often wonder if they should wear armor or not, because the heavy shirt makes them move harder and slower, the ability to hit bullets also increases. If soldiers are forced to wear hard armor, the police often choose soft armor that has a bullet-proof effect. Soft armor often slows down bullets or shrapnel thanks to many thick and sturdy coats, woven like spider webs. However, a light and strong armor like the previous hard armor is still out of the reach of experts. DuPont's Kevlar, used to make soft armor, is often described as five times stronger than steel, but spider silk still proves superior.

Insert padded hard armor to increase protection

After comparison, scientists are forced to admit that the silk released by spiders has three times the flexibility of Kevlar, and is five times more robust than steel. Despite its incredible size and light weight, spider silk is endowed with the ability to absorb a tremendous impact force without any harm. After much effort in a long time, researchers at the University of Wyoming (USA) have achieved a breakthrough, when creating silkworms can release silk as sure as spider silk, according to research published in the journal. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences . The success was due to the discovery of a particular spider in Madagascar in 2009, called the Caerostris darwin spider . Not only does this spider create the largest net (with nets spanning up to 25 meters), but its silk is most definitely recognized in the species (which can absorb three times as much energy as Kevlar).

The application of the new silkworm spider silk is spread across many fields, from items such as umbrellas, car airbags, sports apparel, to medical treatment purposes, such as bandages, stitches, Artificial ligaments and tendons, support joints after injury, even help the nerves recover and regenerate. Experts are now investigating the possibility of using new silk to weave hard armor for soldiers and police.