AUSTRALIA’S silk fabric has been inspired by a recipe for making a special kind of silk, as researchers use it to make a special type of paper and even a paper-based product.
Researchers from the University of Melbourne and the University in Queensland are using a type of silk called polysaccharides, also known as silk microdextans, to make the fabric in the hope of producing a more durable and long-lasting fibre.
This material has been around for millennia and is made up of tiny pieces of proteins and polymers that are extremely flexible and elastic.
The researchers say the silk is much stronger than previous silk materials.
The new material has an elastic stretch and can be stretched in two directions and produced with a high degree of flexibility.
The researchers believe this makes the fabric very flexible and a very good fabric for a lot of uses.
Its been around since the 1600s and has been used for everything from making carpets to textiles to clothing.
Its made from the seeds of a plant called the cassava which grows on the southern island of Mauritius, where the University is based.
Its used to make paper, which is the main fibre used in the world’s paper mills.
The University of Adelaide, the Queensland Institute of Technology and the Melbourne University are all using the fibre to make silk for paper products and a range of other products.
This new material is being used to create paper products for the paper mills and the researchers say it will have many applications.
The paper is very strong, but it’s also very flexible, which allows it to be used as a flexible and waterproof fabric for many different applications.
“This is the first time we’ve actually seen this material and it has such high potential to be applied to paper and other fabrics,” said Dr Sarah Dixson, from the Australian Research Council’s Materials Research Institute.
“The potential for the use of this technology is very great and there is a lot to be done to understand the benefits of the material and what it will do for the world of the future.”
“I can’t wait to see what the next generation of research can do with this technology.”
The research was published in Nature Materials.
This article originally appeared on The Conversation.
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