Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-2plfb Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-24T14:52:39.387Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Mechanical properties of Bombyx mori silkworm silk subjected to microwave radiation

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 April 2014

Emily J. Reed  and
Christopher Viney
Emily J. Reed
Affiliation:
School of Engineering, University of California, Merced, California 95343
Christopher Viney*
Affiliation:
School of Engineering, University of California, Merced, California 95343
*
a)Address all correspondence to this author. e-mail: [email protected]
Get access

Abstract

Microwave irradiation has the potential to affect the mechanical properties of natural silks. We explored several tensile properties of Bombyx mori silkworm cocoon fibers (yield stress and strain, breaking stress and strain, Young's modulus, toughness) as a function of microwave exposure time; samples were stored in a desiccating environment prior to tensile testing. Microwave radiation did not significantly affect any of these properties. We conclude that silk can be incorporated as a reinforcing fiber—without significant deterioration in properties—into materials that are subjected to microwave processing and/or in-service microwave radiation. Microwave exposure decreased the Weibull modulus of fibers, indicating that fracture becomes less predictable as a result of the exposure. Since microwave exposure affects failure predictability but not the average breaking strength of fibers, silk is best suited for use in composite materials if microwave exposure is likely, so that load can be transferred from weaker to stronger fibers.

Type
Articles
Information
Journal of Materials Research , Volume 29 , Issue 7 , 14 April 2014 , pp. 833 - 842
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2014 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Clark, D.E. and Sutton, W.H.: Microwave processing of materials. Annu. Rev. Mater. Sci. 26, 299 (1996).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zhou, L., Yan, N., Zhang, H., Zhou, X., Pu, Q., and Hu, Z.: Microwave-accelerated derivatization for capillary electrophoresis with laser-induced fluorescence detection: A case study for determination of histidine, 1- and 3-methylhistidine in human urine. Talanta 82(1), 72 (2010).CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Craven, J.P., Cripps, R., and Viney, C.: Evaluating the silk/epoxy interface by means of the microbond test. Composites Part A 31, 653 (2000).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Morrison, N.A., Bell, F.I., Beautrait, A., Ritchie, J., Smith, C., McEwen, I.J., and Viney, C.: Do natural silks make good engineering materials? In Biological and Bioinspired Materials and Devices, Aizenberg, J., Orme, C., Landis, W.J., and Wang, R. eds.; Materials Research Society, Warrendale, PA, 2004, pp. 97–102 (W8.4.1-W8.4.6).Google Scholar
Reed, E.J. and Viney, C.: The effect of microwave radiation on tensile properties of silkworm (B. mori) silk. In Soft Matter, Biological Materials and Biomedical Materials – Synthesis, Characterization and Applications, Nolte, A.J., Shiba, K., Narayan, R., and Nolte, D. eds.; Cambridge University Press, New York, NY, 2011, pp. 161–172.Google Scholar
Reed, E.J., Bianchini, L.L., and Viney, C.: Sample selection, preparation methods, and the apparent tensile properties of silkworm (B. mori) cocoon silk. Biopolymers 97, 397 (2012).CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Knight, R.D.: Physics for Scientists and Engineers: A Strategic Approach (Addison Wesley, San Francisco, CA, 2004), p. 527.Google Scholar
Reed, E.J.: Effects of Microwave Radiation on Selected Mechanical Properties of Silk. PhD dissertation, Biological Engineering and Small-Scale Technologies, UC Merced, 2013 (http://www.escholarship.org/uc/item/7fj44148).Google Scholar
Reed, E.J. and Viney, C.: Calibrating the power of a domestic microwave oven. PLOS One (2013).Google Scholar
Login, G.R., Leonard, J.B., and Dvorak, A.M.: Calibration and standardization of microwave ovens for fixation of brain and peripheral nerve tissue. Methods 15(2), 107 (1998).CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Viney, C.: Untangling a sticky problem: The tensile properties of natural silks. In Mechanics of Biological Systems and Materials, Vol. 5: Prorok, B.C., Barthelat, F., Korach, C.S., Grande-Allen, K.J., Lipke, E., Lykofatitits, G., and Zavattieri, P., ed.; Proceedings of the 2012 Annual Conference on Experimental and Applied Mechanics, Springer, New York, NY, 2013, pp. 127–134.Google Scholar
Viney, C.: From natural silks to new polymer fibres. J. Text. Inst. 91(3), 2 (2000).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sullivan, M. III: Statistics: Informed Decisions Using Data, 2nd ed. (Pearson Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, NJ, 2007).Google Scholar
Fu, C., Porter, D., and Shao, Z.: Moisture effects on Antheraea pernyi silk's mechanical property. Macromolecules 42, 7877 (2009).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hu, X., Shmelev, K., Sun, L., Gil, E.-S., Park, S.-H., Cebe, P., and Kaplan, D.L.: Regulation of silk material structure by temperature-controlled water vapor annealing. Biomacromolecules 12(5), 1686 (2011).CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Work, R.W.: A comparative study of the supercontraction of major ampullate silk fibers of orb-web-building spiders (araneae). J. Arachnology 9, 299 (1981).Google Scholar
Bell, F.I., McEwen, I.J., and Viney, C.: Supercontraction stress in wet spider dragline. Nature 416, 37 (2002).CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Pérez-Rigueiro, J., Elices, M., and Guinea, G.V.: Controlled supercontraction tailors the tensile behaviour of spider silk. Polymer 44, 3733 (2003).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pérez-Rigueiro, J., Viney, C., Llorca, J., and Elices, M.: Mechanical properties of silkworm silk in liquid media. Polymer 41, 8433 (2000).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Savage, K.N., Guerette, P.A., and Gosline, J.M.: Supercontraction stress in spider webs. Biomacromolecules 5, 675 (2004).CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Pérez-Rigueiro, J., Viney, C., Llorca, J., and Elices, M.: Silkworm silk as an engineering material. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 70(12), 2439 (1998).3.0.CO;2-J>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zhao, H-P., Feng, X-Q., and Shi, H-J.: Variability in mechanical properties of Bombyx mori silk. Mater. Sci. Eng., C 27, 675 (2007).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Abernethy, R.B.: The New Weibull Handbook: Reliability & Statistical Analysis for Predicting Life, Safety, Survivability, Risk, Cost and Warranty Claims, 5th ed. (Robert B. Abernethy, North Palm Beach, FL, 2006).Google Scholar
Fothergill, J.C.: Estimating the cumulative probability of failure data points to be plotted on Weibull and other probability paper. IEEE Trans. Electr. Insul. 25(3), 489 (1990).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Porter, D., Guan, J., and Vollrath, F.: Spider silk: Super material or thin fibre? Adv. Mater. 25(9), 1275 (2013).CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Zhao, H-P., Feng, X-Q., Cui, W-Z., and Zou, F-Z.: Mechanical properties of silkworm cocoon pelades. Eng. Fract. Mech. 74, 1953 (2007).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Keten, S., Xu, Z., Ihle, B., and Buehler, M.J.: Nanoconfinement controls stiffness, strength and mechanical toughness of β-sheet crystals in silk. Nat. Mater. 9, 359 (2010).CrossRefGoogle Scholar