SURFACE MICROSTRUCTURE AND NANOFIBRIL OF SPIDER DRAGLINE SILK FROM ARANCEUS VENTRICOSUS

摘要

The spider dragline silk has excellent mechanical properties. The stress and strain of dragline silk have intraspecific and intraindividual variability because of the spider's active control on spinning process. To investigate the relationship between the morphology of dragline silk and spinning conditions, four samples were silked at the rate of 1 mm/s, 20 mm/s, 43.5 mm/s and 110 mm/s from the major ampullate glands of Araneus Ventricosus and the dragline silks were prepared from a crawling and dropping spider. The surface microstructure and nanofibril characteristics were analyzed by atomic force microscopy (AFM). The AFM images of these silk fibers showed that the spinning conditions influence the surface roughness and nanofibril sizes. These results will facilitate the research on the spinning mechanisms of a spider by means of comprehending with mechanical properties and molecular structures of these dragline silk fibers.