Silk-based bioinspired structural and functional materials

Zongpu Xu; Weiwei Gao; Hao Bai

doi:10.1016/j.isci.2022.103940

Silk-based bioinspired structural and functional materials

iScience. 2022 Feb 17;25(3):103940. doi: 10.1016/j.isci.2022.103940. eCollection 2022 Mar 18.

Authors

Zongpu Xu^{1

2}, Weiwei Gao³, Hao Bai⁴

Affiliations

¹ Institute of Applied Bioresources, College of Animal Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China.
² Key Laboratory of Utilization and Innovation of Silkworm and Bee Resources of Zhejiang Province, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China.
³ MOE Key Laboratory of Macromolecular Synthesis and Functionalization, Department of Polymer Science and Engineering, Key Laboratory of Adsorption and Separation Materials & Technologies of Zhejiang Province, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027, China.
⁴ State Key Laboratory of Chemical Engineering, College of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027, China.

Abstract

Natural biological materials provide a rich source of inspiration for building high-performance materials with extensive applications. By mimicking their chemical compositions and hierarchical architectures, the past decades have witnessed the rapid development of bioinspired materials. As a very promising biosourced raw material, silk is drawing increasing attention due to excellent mechanical properties, favorable versatility, and good biocompatibility. In this review, we provide an overview of the recent progress in silk-based bioinspired structural and functional materials. We first give a brief introduction of silk, covering its sources, features, extraction, and forms. We then summarize the preparation and application of silk-based materials mimicking four typical biological materials including bone, nacre, skin, and polar bear hair. Finally, we discuss the current challenges and future prospects of this field.

Keywords: Biomaterials; Materials property.

Publication types

Review