Fluorescent Silk Obtained by Feeding Silkworms with Fluorescent Materials^†

Abstract

Comprehensive Summary Fluorescent silk has potential application in many fields such as bioimaging, tissue engineering scaffolds, luminescent marks, and dazzling fabrics. Among the methods to endow natural silk with fluorescent properties, feeding silkworms with fluorescent additives is facile, low‐cost and environment friendly, which has the prospect of large‐scale production. In this paper, we reviewed the research progress for this aim in the past ten years, and summarized the unified characteristics for the substances that can enter the silk gland by digestive tract of silkworms. The advantages and disadvantages of various fluorescent materials for this application are compared in detail. And the future research directions are suggested to overcome the shortcomings of the present research.

Silk-based intelligent fibers and textiles: structures, properties, and applications

“…This high degree of transparency allows for excellent light transmission in textiles, while the superior reflective properties contribute to their striking luster. In addition, the fluorescent properties of silk fibers can be improved through the use of specialized technological methods such as transgenic methods, additive feeding methods 153,154 and interfacial assembly methods. 155 These methods can be used to impart new fluorescent properties to silk by modulating specific genes in the silk and introducing components with fluorescent properties.…”

Deep‐Red to Near‐Infrared Carbon Dots in Biosensing and Bio‐medical Applications

“…It is commonly accepted that the primary parameters affecting the PL emission of CDs include carbon core and surface states, doping of various elements, quantum size effects, and doping of distinct elements. [ 63‐65 ]…”

Green Fluorescent Carbon Dots with Critically Controlled Surface States: Make Silk Shine via Feeding Silkworms

“…After modification by modern science and technology, the application of silk has been expanded to drug delivery, tissue engineering, biological imaging, and so on. − The modification methods mainly include changing silk surfaces by chemical reagents, recombining the DNA of silkworms by genetic engineering, and feeding silkworms by functional substances. − The postmodification processes have been industrialized which often cause environmental pollution, and the chemicals usually damage the internal structure of silk protein. The genetic modification requires a long time of research and a huge economic cost, and the successful products are rare at present. , In contrast, adding functional substances to feed silkworms is easy to design and simple to operate, which can endow silk with various modifications in a short time. , So far, various substances have been developed and fed to silkworms. For example, single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) and graphene were fed to silkworms to gain mechanically enhanced silk .…”

“…10,11 In contrast, adding functional substances to feed silkworms is easy to design and simple to operate, which can endow silk with various modifications in a short time. 12,13 So far, various substances have been developed and fed to silkworms. For example, singlewalled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) and graphene were fed to silkworms to gain mechanically enhanced silk.…”