Thanks to innovative work by researchers at Tufts University, Spider-Man-inspired web-spinning technology has become a reality. This remarkable advancement uses silk-based materials to pass liquid through a thin needle, instantly turning the liquid into a strong, sticky thread. The string can cling to surfaces and lift objects with incredible strength and precision.

The wonders of web slinging technology

Web slinging technology involves creating sticky fibers derived from silkworm cocoons. At Tufts University’s Silklab, the cocoons are processed in a solution until they become fibroin, the main protein of silk. The silk fibroin solution turns into a flow after being passed through fine needles. Add the right ingredients and the jet will become a rope as soon as it hits the clear sky.

The natural miracle of silk

Nature has always been the main source of inspiration in the creation and use of silk fibers. Some creatures, from spiders to ants, from butterflies to beetles, produce silk at some point in their life cycle.

Silklab at Tufts University was inspired by this natural wonder, leading to a series of extraordinary developments. Researchers have developed strong adhesives that work underwater, printable sensors, edible coatings to extend the life of products, and environmentally friendly methods for producing microchips.

Inspiration comes unexpectedly

Despite progress in silk-based materials, researchers have faced difficulties in mimicking spiders’ mastery of precisely controlling the stiffness, elasticity and adhesive properties of spun threads. But this revelation came by chance.

“I was working on a project to make super-strong adhesives from silk fibroin, and while cleaning my glassware with acetone, I noticed that a web-like material was forming on the bottom of the glass,” assistant Marco Lo Presti said. Professor at Bunch. This serendipitous discovery helped overcome many engineering hurdles in reproducing spider threads.

The magic of chemistry

Researchers noticed that silk fibroin solutions could form a semisolid hydrogel within hours when exposed to organic solvents such as ethanol or acetone. The addition of dopamine, an element used in making adhesives, made the curing process almost instantaneous.

The composition, which includes dopamine and its polymers, is similar to the chemistry that brachiopods use to create fibers that adhere tightly to surfaces. To spin these fibers in air, the researchers added dopamine to the silk fibroin solution. In the presence of dopamine, the transition from the liquid to the solid state was accelerated by the removal of water from the silk.

As it passes through a coaxial needle, a thin thread of silk solution becomes coated with a layer of acetone, causing solidification.

Real web hooking technology

Acetone evaporates into the air, leaving a fiber attached to any object it comes into contact with. The researchers supplemented the dopamine silk fibroin solution with chitosan, a derivative of insect exoskeletons, and a borate buffer, which significantly increased the adhesion and tensile strength of the fibers.

In the device, which can lift objects up to 80 times its own weight and launch fibers, the diameter of the fibers can be changed according to the needle hole. The researchers demonstrated this by carefully lifting various objects, including a cocoon, a steel bolt, a laboratory tube floating in water, a scalpel partially buried in sand, and a wooden block, from a distance of about 12 centimeters.

Superhero inspired material

“When you look at nature, you see that spiders cannot launch their webs. They usually spin silk from their glands, make physical contact with the surface, and draw lines to create their webs,” Lo Presti said.

“We show a way to pull the fiber from the device and then stick it to the object and retrieve it from a distance. Rather than presenting this work as a biology-inspired material, it’s truly a superhero-inspired material.”

Although natural spider silk is still noticeably stronger than man-made fibers, ongoing innovations promise to fill this gap and pave the way for a number of possible technological applications.

“As scientists and engineers, we are on the border between imagination and implementation. “This is where all the magic happens,” said Silklab Director Professor Fiorenzo Omenetto.

“In this case, we wanted to design our silk material to behave as nature originally intended and comic book writers predicted.” The study was published in the journal Advanced Functional Materials .