Eden Steven, a physicist at Florida State University Magnet Lab, Tallahassee, conducting innovative experiments with spider silk, wanted to see what would happen when strands of spider’s silk were coated with carbon nanotubes. Using drops of water to adhere the powdery carbon nanotubes to the spider silk, he discovered some amazing results.
“It turns out that this high-grade, remarkable material has many functions,” he said. “It can be used as a humidity sensor, a strain sensor, an actuator—acting as an artificial muscle, and as an electrical wire.”
With a team of colleagues, he was able to create tiny wires that could conduct electricity when severely bent, demonstrating this effect by forming the wire into letters small enough to fit on a man's wedding band.
He says that he was also interested in “spider wire” because of it’s an eco-friendly material. Many of today’s electronic devices contain toxic elements and complex, non-biodegradable plastics that end up as pollution in our environment. His spider wire is able to handle changes in humidity without complicated treatments and chemical additives.
“Spider silk is tough, but becomes soft when exposed to water. … The nanotubes adhere uniformly and bond to the silk fiber surface to produce tough, custom-shaped, flexible, and electrically conducting fibers after drying and contraction,” he explained.
