Regensburg 2007 – wissenschaftliches Programm

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MM: Fachverband Metall- und Materialphysik

MM 35: SYBM Bioinspired Materials

MM 35.27: Poster

Donnerstag, 29. März 2007, 18:45–20:45, H16

Mechanical properties of silk: Interplay of deformation on macroscopic and molecular length scales — •Imke Diddens¹, Nadine Hauptmann¹, Gesa Helms¹, Igor Krasnov¹, Malte Ogurreck¹, Tilo Seydel², Sergio S. Funari³, and Martin Müller¹ — ¹Institut für Experimentelle und Angewandte Physik, Christian–Albrechts–Universität zu Kiel — ²Institut Laue–Langevin, Grenoble, France — ³HASYLAB at DESY, Hamburg

Using an in situ combination of tensile tests and X–ray fibre diffraction, we have directly determined the mechanical properties of both the crystalline and the disordered phase of the biological nanocomposite silk. We have adapted a model from linear viscoelastic theory, which fully accounts for the semicrystalline morphology of silk. The elastic moduli of the two phases were determined as well as the relaxing modulus and the viscosity of the disordered matrix. The high extensibility of silk results principally from the disordered phase, however, important elastic deformation was also found in the β–sheet protein crystals. The observed interplay between morphology and mechanical properties will have strong impact on the design of novel protein–based high performance fibres.