Table 2. Comparison of mechanical properties among recombinant and natural spider silk fibres.
| Protein origin | Molecular weight (kDa) | Solvent/coagulation bath* | Breaking Strain (%) | Breaking Stress (MPa) | Modulus (GPa) | Toughness (MJ/m3) | No. of samples |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MaSp1 | 47 (WS-3x) | Water/ethanol | 3.5 ± 1.2 | 62.3 ± 17.2 | 4.0 ± 2.8 | 1.6 ± 0.9 | 5 |
| MaSp1 | 47 (WS-PSD-3x) | Water/ethanol | 18.3 ± 12.8 | 286.2 ± 137.7 | 8.4 ± 4.3 | 37.7 ± 28.8 | 5 |
| TuSp1 and MiSp1 | 378 | HFIP/water | 10 | 308 ± 57 | 9.3 ± 3 | — | 514 |
| MaSp1 | 284 | HFIP/methanol | 15 ± 5 | 508 ± 108 | 21 ± 4 | — | 1012 |
| ADF3 | 268 | GdmSCN/75% IPA | 110 ± 25 | 370 ± 59 | 4 ± 1 | 189 ± 33 | 1015 |
| MaSp1 and MaSp2 | 65 | HFIP & formic acid/IPA | 56 ± 7 | 221.7 ± 11.0 | 6 ± 0.5 | 102.5 ± 13.6 | 1032 |
| MaSp2 | 86.5 | HFIP/IPA | 181.3 ± 103.5 | 39.0 ± 7.4 | 1.6 ± 0.4 | 59.3 ± 37.2 | 2042 |
| Flag and MaSp 2 | 58 | HFIP/IPA | 18.7 ± 17.9 | 101.7 ± 32.8 | 3.3 ± 1.4 | 18.8 ± 20.7 | 1119 |
| MaSp1 and MaSp2 | 250–320 | water | 24 ± 8 | 1183 ± 334 | 8 ± 2 | 167 ± 65 | Natural dragline silk15 |
*HFIP: hexafluoroisopropanol; GdmSCN: guanidinium thiocyanate; IPA: isopropyl alcohol.