Exploring the Use of Native Spider Silk as an Optical Fiber for Chemical Sensing
| Autor: | Fritz Vollrath, Luc Thévenaz, Tom Gheysens, Desmond M. Chow, Isabelle Dicaire, Kenny Hey Tow |
|---|---|
| Rok vydání: | 2018 |
| Předmět: |
Materials science
Optical fiber Nanotechnology 02 engineering and technology 01 natural sciences law.invention 010309 optics law 0103 physical sciences Optical fibers Spider silk humidity sensor Sensory organ Spider Optical fiber sensors Chemical sensing Proteins 021001 nanoscience & nanotechnology Biocompatible material Atomic and Molecular Physics and Optics SILK Fiber optic sensor Optical fibre sensor spider silk optical fibre sensor Chemicals 0210 nano-technology |
| Zdroj: | Journal of Lightwave Technology. 36:1138-1144 |
| ISSN: | 1558-2213 0733-8724 |
| Popis: | A spider uses up to seven different types of silk, all having specific functions, as building material, weapon, and sensory organ to detect the presence of preys on its web. Recently, scientists have put under the limelight the extraordinary properties of this ancient material. Indeed, native silk, directly extracted from spiders, is a tough, biodegradable, and biocompatible thread used mainly for tissue engineering and textile applications. Blessed with outstanding optical properties, this protein strand can also be used as a bioresorbable optical fiber and is, moreover, intrinsically sensitive to chemical compounds. In this communication, the waveguiding properties of native dragline silk are assessed and a pioneering proof-of-concept experiment using pristine spider silk as an optical fiber to measure humidity content is demonstrated. The feasibility of using silk-based optical fiber chemical sensors is also discussed. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
| Externí odkaz: |
|