The present disclosure relates to screened cages to contain fibrous and other bulky materials during liquid-solid processing that can allow optimized flow of the materials within the screened cages for mass transfer, heat transfer and prevent packing of the material that would obstruct liquid flow. In addition, the screened cages enable safer handling in high temperature or corrosive environments.

The present disclosure relates to screened cages to contain fibrous and other bulky materials during liquid-solid processing that can allow optimized flow of the materials within the screened cages for mass transfer, heat transfer and prevent packing of the material that would obstruct liquid flow. In addition, the screened cages enable safer handling in high temperature or corrosive environments.

Disclosed are a molded body and method for manufacture of same, with the molded body including fibroin having high impact strength and flexural properties, the molded body being capable of maintaining impact strength and flexural properties over a long period of time, with the molded body including 80 parts or more by weight of fibroin, with the fibroin including fibrous fibroin and non-fibrous fibroin.

Disclosed are a molded body and method for manufacture of same, with the molded body including fibroin having high impact strength and flexural properties, the molded body being capable of maintaining impact strength and flexural properties over a long period of time, with the molded body including 80 parts or more by weight of fibroin, with the fibroin including fibrous fibroin and non-fibrous fibroin.

A method for manufacturing an electrical circuit component includes preparing a mixture of a structured material and silkworm food. The method further includes feeding the mixture to at least one silkworm. The method further includes harvesting silk produced by the at least one silkworm, wherein the harvested silk includes at least one silkworm silk fiber including silkworm-digested portions of the structured material embedded in or on the at least one fiber. The method further includes incorporating the at least one fiber into an electrical circuit component.

The present invention is directed towards degumming a silk fiber, obtaining high quality silk fibroin solutions and the reconstitution of silk. The invention further relates to a method of accurately and precisely determining mechanical properties of biological fibers such as silk fibers.

The present invention is directed towards degumming a silk fiber, obtaining high quality silk fibroin solutions and the reconstitution of silk. The invention further relates to a method of accurately and precisely determining mechanical properties of biological fibers such as silk fibers.

Electrospun films of nonwoven silk nanofibers, when appropriately structured, can surpass Cyphochilus scales in scattering strength for the entire visible spectrum. Detailed modeling studies demonstrate how the key structural parameters affect scattering properties in the electrospun films. An electrospun film with the similar characteristic structural parameters as those in Cyphochilus scales provides two resonance peaks in the visible reflectance spectrum in the limit of a uniform fiber diameter. As the distribution of diameter increases appreciably to experimentally achievable degrees, the resonance peaks broaden and the reflectance spectrum becomes relatively flat with stronger scattering in shorter wavelengths, resulting in disappearance of the structural color. This supports the concept that controllable fibrous nanostructures that exceed the exceptionally strong broadband optical scattering found among living organisms can be volume-produced.

Electrospun films of nonwoven silk nanofibers, when appropriately structured, can surpass Cyphochilus scales in scattering strength for the entire visible spectrum. Detailed modeling studies demonstrate how the key structural parameters affect scattering properties in the electrospun films. An electrospun film with the similar characteristic structural parameters as those in Cyphochilus scales provides two resonance peaks in the visible reflectance spectrum in the limit of a uniform fiber diameter. As the distribution of diameter increases appreciably to experimentally achievable degrees, the resonance peaks broaden and the reflectance spectrum becomes relatively flat with stronger scattering in shorter wavelengths, resulting in disappearance of the structural color. This supports the concept that controllable fibrous nanostructures that exceed the exceptionally strong broadband optical scattering found among living organisms can be volume-produced.