Read more at source.
Read more at source.
Lo Presti's discovery was a happy accident. While using acetone to clean glassware containing a silk and dopamine substance, he observed the substance undergoing a transition into a solid, web-like material. This sparked the idea of developing a remote adhesive, a substance that can stick to an object from a distance.
The team at Silklab used silk fibroin and dopamine, ejecting the combination through a needle into a bath of acetone. This process triggered the substance's solidification into a hydrogel. The team then innovated further by adding the acetone into the outer layer of a coaxial needle, enabling the liquid to shoot straight into the air. As the acetone evaporates mid-air, the dopamine speeds up the solidifying process, resulting in sticky, strong, spun fibers.
The inspiration behind this project is as much pop culture as it is science. The team drew parallels to Spider-Man's web-slinging ability, which added a fun element to their serious scientific exploration. The potential applications of this material are vast, from medical to industrial uses, truly bringing the stuff of comic books into reality.
You explore and you play and you sort of connect the dots. Part of the play that is very underestimated is where you say hey, wait a second, is this like a Spider-Man thing? And you brush it off at first, but a material that mimics superpowers is always a very, very good thing. - Fiorenzo Omenetto, professor of engineering at Tufts
