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The size of beta-sheet crystals determines silk's high performance properties.
Structure of silk: The yellowish regions are the key cross-linking domains in silk, beta-sheet crystals, which are only a few nanometers in size. The strength of silks is controlled by how much force these cross-linking domains can take. The research results show that the size of these crystals is absolutely essential for silk's high performance properties.
Credit: Spider web photograph courtesy Nicolas Demars. Figure courtesy M.J. Buehler (MIT)
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