Turning silk into a water repellant material involved covering the surface of the silk fibroin with short chemical chains containing carbon and fluorine, called perfluorocarbons.
Researchers at Tufts University have developed a method to make silk-based materials that refuse to stick to water, or almost anything else containing water for that matter. In fact, the modified silk, which can be molded into forms like plastic, or coated onto surfaces as a film, has non-stick properties that surpass those of nonstick surfaces typically used on cookware, and it could see applications that extend into a wide range of consumer products, as well as medicine.
Silk is a natural fiber spun by moths and has been used for thousands of years to make durable and fine fabrics—and surgical sutures to close wounds.
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