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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2009 Aug 4.
Published in final edited form as: Nat Protoc. 2009;4(3):341–355. doi: 10.1038/nprot.2008.250

TABLE 1.

Comparison of mechanical properties of spider silks.

Material Strength (N m−2) Elongation (%) Energy to break (J kg−1)
Major ampullate silk 4 × 109 35 4 × 105
Minor ampullate silk 1 × 109 5 3 × 104
Flagelliform silk 1 × 109 >200 4 × 105
Tubuliform silk 1 × 109 20 1 × 105
Aciniform silk 0.7 × 109 80 6 × 109
Kevlar 4 × 109 5 3 × 10
Rubber 1 × 106 600 8 × 104
Tendon 1 × 106 5 5 × 103

Data adapted from refs. 17 and 19.