Recent progress in silk-based biosensors

Abstract

The applications of biosensors, in both medical and non-medical fields, have expanded enormously over the last few years. For conventional sensing applications, petrochemical materials, conducting polymers, metals and carbon-based materials are used. However, biosensing, especially in the medical field, places stringent material requirements of biocompatibility, biodegradability and other performance. Silk, an ancient natural organic material, is endowed with excellent biocompatibility, adjustable biodegradability, high strength and outstanding processability due to its unique physical and chemical structure. Owing to these exceptional properties, silk and its derivatives are of interest to researchers as biosensor matrices (supports). Herein, we review the representative research results of silk-based biosensors in medical and non-medical fields and highlight the applications and challenges of silk and its derivatives in medical biosensing applications. We envision that silk-based biosensors will become an integral part of the healthcare monitoring system in future.

Keywords: Biocompatibility; Biodegradability; Biosensors; Medical biosensing; Silk.