Rheological characterization of silk solutions

Spider silk with its intriguing mechanical properties has a high potential for numerous applications in technology and industry. However, the production of silk fibers from regenerated or recombinant silk solutions is as of today limited by the requirement of strong chaotropic agents and chemical postspin treatments, yielding fibers with weaker mechanical properties than their native counterparts. Here, rheological data of regenerated Bombyx mori fibroin and aqueous silk solutions of recombinant spider silk protein eADF3 indicate that the presence of kosmotropic salts, and elevated temperatures result in solution behavior more alike that of a native silk spinning dope. The authors believe that their findings are helpful for the successful silk spinning from recombinant or regenerated silk solutions.