Lattice deformation and thermal stability of crystals in spider silk.

The X-ray diffraction of dragline silks, produced by Nephila and Cyrtophora spiders, were measured by synchrotron radiation in their original states or in situ during stretching and heating. Nephila pilipes spiders construct a two-dimensional orb web that must be rebuilt in one or 2 days, but Cyrtophora spiders form a three-dimensional tent web that can exist for several weeks in a tropical forest. Diffraction patterns of N.

Self-assembly of a mixed-ligand metal-coordination polymeric network of cadmium(II) croconate with 4,4'-bipyridine.

A new cadmium croconate (C5O5(2-)) complex, [Cd2(C5O5)2(4,4'-bpy)(H2O)]infinity (4,4-bpy=4,4'-bipyridine) with an extended network has been synthesized under hydrothermal conditions and characterized by single-crystal X-ray diffraction studies. The title compound crystallizes in the monoclinic system, space group P2(1)/n, with empirical formula C20H12Cd2N2O12, a=15.9623(3) A, b=7.