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Communication
New Secrets of Spider Silk: Exceptionally High Thermal Conductivity and Its Abnormal Change under Stretching
Article first published online: 5 MAR 2012
DOI: 10.1002/adma.201104668
Copyright © 2012 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim
Additional Information
How to Cite
Huang, X., Liu, G. and Wang, X. (2012), New Secrets of Spider Silk: Exceptionally High Thermal Conductivity and Its Abnormal Change under Stretching. Adv. Mater., 24: 1482–1486. doi: 10.1002/adma.201104668
Publication History
- Issue published online: 12 MAR 2012
- Article first published online: 5 MAR 2012
- Manuscript Received: 7 DEC 2011
Keywords:
- spider silk;
- thermal conductivity;
- specific heat;
- self-assembled hierarchical structure;
- oriented beta sheet
Two new significant discoveries are reported: i) the dragline silk of N. clavipes spider has an exceptionally high thermal conductivity: up to 416 W/m·K that beats most materials; ii) contrary to normal materials, its thermal conductivity increases with strain (19% increase under ∼20% strain). These new findings will revolutionize the design of polymer fibers to increase their thermal conductivity by orders of magnitude.