Vegan spider silk a sustainable alternative to single-use plastics: Study

Researchers at the University of Cambridge in the UK have created a plant-based and sustainable ‘vegan spider silk’ material. This material could replace single-use plastics in many consumer products, according to a new study. The polymer film created by mimicking the properties of spider silk is one of the strongest materials known to nature.

Sustainable alternative to single-use plastic

The findings of the research have been published in the journal Nature.

The new material created is as strong as many common plastics that are in use today and could replace plastic in household products. The material is home compostable, while other types of bioplastics require industrial composting facilities to degrade. The new product will be commercialised by Xampla, a University of Cambridge spin-out company developing a replacement for single-use plastics. 

The material was created using a new approach for assembling plant proteins into materials that mimic silk on a molecular level. Non-fading 'structural' colour can be added to the polymer, and it can also be used to make water-resistant coatings. The researchers successfully replicated the structures found on spider silk by using soy protein isolate (SPI), a protein with a completely different composition.

Professor Tuomas Knowles who led the research in Cambridge’s Yusuf Hamied Department of Chemistry has been researching the behaviour of the protein. During the study of protein, Knowles and his group became interested to know why materials like spider silk are so strong. The researchers used soy protein isolate(SPI) as their test plant protein. The new technique uses an environmentally friendly mixture of acetic acid and water, combined with ultrasonication and high temperatures, to improve the solubility of the SPI. 

"We found that one of the key features that gives spider silk its strength is the hydrogen bonds are arranged regularly in space and at a very high density", said Knowles in the press release.

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