Biocompatible Optical Fibers Made of Regenerated Cellulose and Recombinant Cellulose-Binding Spider Silk

Martin Reimer; Kai Mayer; Daniel Van Opdenbosch; Thomas Scheibel; Cordt Zollfrank

doi:10.3390/biomimetics8010037

Biocompatible Optical Fibers Made of Regenerated Cellulose and Recombinant Cellulose-Binding Spider Silk

Biomimetics (Basel). 2023 Jan 15;8(1):37. doi: 10.3390/biomimetics8010037.

Authors

Martin Reimer¹, Kai Mayer², Daniel Van Opdenbosch¹, Thomas Scheibel^{2

3

4

5

6}, Cordt Zollfrank¹

Affiliations

¹ Chair for Biogenic Polymers, Technical University of Munich Campus Straubing for Biotechnology and Sustainability, Schulgasse 16, 94315 Straubing, Germany.
² Chair for Biomaterials, Faculty of Engineering Science, University of Bayreuth, Prof. Rüdiger-Bormann-Straße 1, 95447 Bayreuth, Germany.
³ Bayreuther Zentrum für Kolloide und Grenzflächen (BZKG), Universität Bayreuth, Universitätsstraße 30, 95440 Bayreuth, Germany.
⁴ Bayreuther Materialzentrum (BayMat), Universität Bayreuth, Universitätsstraße 30, 95440 Bayreuth, Germany.
⁵ Bayreuther Zentrum für Molekulare Biowissenschaften (BZMB), Universität Bayreuth, Universitätsstraße 30, 95440 Bayreuth, Germany.
⁶ Bayrisches Polymerinstitut (BPI), Universität Bayreuth, Universitätsstraße 30, 95440 Bayreuth, Germany.

Abstract

The fabrication of green optical waveguides based on cellulose and spider silk might allow the processing of novel biocompatible materials. Regenerated cellulose fibers are used as the core and recombinantly produced spider silk proteins eADF4(C16) as the cladding material. A detected delamination between core and cladding could be circumvented by using a modified spider silk protein with a cellulose-binding domain-enduring permanent adhesion between the cellulose core and the spider silk cladding. The applied spider silk materials were characterized optically, and the theoretical maximum data rate was determined. The results show optical waveguide structures promising for medical applications, for example, in the future.

Keywords: attenuation; data rate; light guiding; optogenetic stimulation; photodynamic therapy; transmission.

Grants and funding

This work was supported by the Bavarian State Ministry of the Environment and Consumer Protection through financing the collaborational project “BayBionik”.