Wetting and supercontraction properties of spider-based nanofibers

Spider dragline silk has the highest strength among all natural or artificial fibers. This paper is to take full advantage of this property to enhance polyvinyl alcohol nanofibers by adding spider powders in the spun solution by the electrospinning. The obtained spider-based nanofiber shows much higher toughness than its polyvinyl alcohol partner. We also find that the spider-based nanofibers have supercontraction and wetting properties similar to those in the spider silks. This paper sheds a new light on a new trend of nanobiomimetics.