A team of US Navy scientists and engineers have created a synthetic version of hagfish slime whose mechanical properties are similar to Kevlar, a synthetic fiber used as a reinforcing agent for rubber products and protective gear.

The team, located at Naval Surface Warfare Center, Panama City Division (NSWC PCD), intend to use the material for marine wildlife defense to assist military personnel, wrote the US Navy on their website.

The team, including biochemist Dr. Josh Kogot and Materials Engineer Dr. Ryan Kincer, produced the synthetic component of the slime from the alpha and gamma proteins of the Pacific hagfish. The Pacific hagfish, also known as slime eels, live on the ocean floor and secrete slime to protect themselves by obstructing the gills of predators which come into contact with the slime.

Science behind the hagfish slime

According to Kincer, hagfish slime mainly consists of two protein-based components - a thread and a mucin. As Kincer says,

• The coiled-up thread behaves like a spring and quickly unravels upon contact with water due to stored energy.
• The mucin binds to water and restricts the flow between the micro channels created by the thread dispersion to a certain level. 

The interaction between the thread, mucin, and seawater creates a three-dimensional, viscoelastic network. Over time, the thread begins to collapse on itself, causing the slime to slowly dissipate.

The hagfish slime thread has been compared to spider silk because both are natural and renewable materials which could replace synthetic products derived from petroleum-based precursors.

Applications of the hagfish slime

According to Kogot, the synthetic hagfish slime can be used for ballistics protection, firefighting, anti-fouling, diver protection, or anti-shark spray. "The possibilities are endless. Our goal is to produce a substance that can act as non-lethal and non-kinetic defense to protect the warfighter."