Berlin 2018 – scientific programme
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MM: Fachverband Metall- und Materialphysik
MM 60: Topical session (Symposium EPS and MM): Mechanical Properties at Small Scales
MM 60.2: Talk
Thursday, March 15, 2018, 16:00–16:15, H 0106
Structural investigations of spider attachment hairs — •Silja Flenner1, Imke Greving1, Emanuel Larsson1, Clemens Schaber2, Christina Krywka1, Stanislav N. Gorb2, Martin Rosenthal3, Manfred Burghammer3, and Martin Müller1 — 1Institute of Materials Research, Helmholtz-Zentrum Geesthacht, Germany — 2Institute of Zoology, Kiel University, Germany — 3ESRF, Grenoble, France
The hairy attachment system of spiders enables these animals to walk upside-down on rough and smooth surfaces without the use of glue. These outstanding biological structures comprise of pads including hundreds to thousands of specially designed hairs that are made of composite materials consisting of proteins and reinforcing chitin fibres.
The goal of our study is to gain an in-depth understanding of the structure-function mechanism of the attachment and detachment processes of single hairs to a surface. X-ray Tomographic Microscopy and Scanning X-ray nanobeam diffraction are ideal tools to reveal the inner structure of the spider hairs and allow to determine the gradient of the mechanical properties which is essential for the attachment process.
With both techniques we found that the shaft of the attachment hair is hollow. Wide Angle X-ray scattering of the shaft revealed, that in contrast to the tip region, oriented α-chitin was present, indicating the presence of chitin crystals in the shaft region. These results suggest that the tube-shaped hollow part of the hair in combination with the presence of chitin crystals along the tube is needed to withstand the strong forces which occur during attachment/detachment process.