Nanoscale Material Heterogeneity of Glowworm Capture Threads Revealed by AFM
| Autor: | Sean J. Blamires, Dakota Piorkowski, I-Min Tso, Bo-Ching He, Deborah M. Kane |
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| Rok vydání: | 2021 |
| Předmět: |
Materials science
Silk Pharmaceutical Science biological material 02 engineering and technology Substrate (printing) Microscopy Atomic Force Article Viscoelasticity Analytical Chemistry 03 medical and health sciences QD241-441 Adhesives Elastic Modulus Drug Discovery Animals Physical and Theoretical Chemistry Composite material Nanoscopic scale Elastic modulus 030304 developmental biology 0303 health sciences Diptera biofiber Organic Chemistry Resolution (electron density) height image Spiders Dissipation 021001 nanoscience & nanotechnology Nanostructures Arachnocampa SILK Chemistry (miscellaneous) Molecular Medicine Adhesive 0210 nano-technology |
| Zdroj: | Molecules Volume 26 Issue 12 Molecules, Vol 26, Iss 3500, p 3500 (2021) |
| ISSN: | 1420-3049 |
| Popis: | Adhesive materials used by many arthropods for biological functions incorporate sticky substances and a supporting material that operate synergistically by exploiting substrate attachment and energy dissipation. While there has been much focus on the composition and properties of the sticky glues of these bio-composites, less attention has been given to the materials that support them. In particular, as these materials are primarily responsible for dissipation during adhesive pull-off, little is known of the structures that give rise to functionality, especially at the nano-scale. In this study we used tapping mode atomic force microscopy (TM-AFM) to analyze unstretched and stretched glowworm (Arachnocampa tasmaniensis) capture threads and revealed nano-scale features corresponding to variation in surface structure and elastic modulus near the surface of the silk. Phase images demonstrated a high resolution of viscoelastic variation and revealed mostly globular and elongated features in the material. Increased vertical orientation of 11–15 nm wide fibrillar features was observed in stretched threads. Fast Fourier transform analysis of phase images confirmed these results. Relative viscoelastic properties were also highly variable at inter- and intra-individual levels. Results of this study demonstrate the practical usefulness of TM-AFM, especially phase angle imaging, in investigating the nano-scale structures that give rise to macro-scale function of soft and highly heterogeneous materials of both natural and synthetic origins. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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