Spiderman Watchout- Carbon Spray Triples Strength of Spider Webs

Researchers in Italy have strengthened silk by spraying spiders with graphene particles.

According to Discovery News, researchers at University of Trento sprayed spiders with graphene measuring 300 nanometers and carbon nanotubes. The spiders wove webs with carbon particles laced silk, which was found to be 3.5 times stronger than silk produced by the giant riverine orb spider.

New Scientist reports that of the 10 spiders sprayed, some produced below-par silk while others did better. Four spiders died before they produced any web. The best spider was the riverine orb spider. They also found web spun by spiders when sprayed with nanotubers was stronger than graphene.

It is not yet known how the carbon got into the web. While one possibility could be that particles just settled on the web, researchers think it could be deeper than that. They wonder how strength of the web can be affected if carbon simply settled on the silk.

Further research is expected to reveal if spiders can absorb materials from their surroundings and use it for spinning web. The research also has implications for materials engineering.