| Abstract: | The variability in mechanical stress–strain behaviour of various silks obtained from Bombyx mori silkworm and Nephila madagascarensis spider fibres has been studied by high resolution Raman analysis using the Raman shift induced by application of a controlled strain on the νN–H mode as a probe. Silk fibres exhibiting typical 1, 2, 3 and 4 Types have been selected from their characteristic tensile stress–strain behaviour. A perfect relationship between the nanomechanic (at the scale of the chemical bond) and macroscopic (silk single fibre) behaviour is observed as in the case of other polyamide fibres (natural keratin and synthetic PA66). Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. |
