The Nanocarbon Cocoon
A silkworm, some mulberry leaves and carbon nanotubes crawl into a lab…
The Nanocarbon Cocoon was a recreation of an experiment conducted by scientists at NoPo Nanotechnologies, who fed their silkworms mulberry leaves coated with carbon nanotubes.
The worms then produced silk reinforced with the nanotubes, and, therefore, of greater tensile strength. They can be used not just in textiles, but also in medical sutures and parachute threading.
As visitors observed this experiment, they were invited to consider how carbon, in both living organisms and in new age nanotechnology, comes together to create remarkable biomaterials.
Medium: Carbon nanotube solution, Chandrike, Mulberry leaves, Silkworms
Year: 2017
