Mechanical characterization of spider silk nanomembranes

In this work we present three different ways to characterize the mechanical properties of spider silk nanomembranes. The nanomembranes are formed by self-assembly at the liquid:air interface of a standing solution from which they can be lifted. The mechanical properties are evaluated by (1) manually dropping lead bullets onto the nanomembrane, (2) motorized lowering of a cylindrical indenter to record force-deformation characteristics, and (3) using a standard bulging experiments. Using these methods we show that the nanomembranes are both strong and flexible opening up for applications as pneumatic actuators in MEMS microvalves, or as cell layer actuators in organ-on-a-chip.
QC 20220301