Regenerated Fiber’s Ideal Target: Comparable to Natural Fiber

Abstract

The toughness of silk naturally obtained from spiders and silkworms exceeds that of all other natural and man-made fibers. These insects transform aqueous protein feedstocks into mechanically specialized materials, which represents an engineering phenomenon that has developed over millions of years of natural evolution. Silkworms have become a new research hotspot due to the difficulties in collecting spider silk and other challenges. According to continuous research on the natural spinning process of the silkworm, it is possible to divide the main aspects of bionic spinning into two main segments: the solvent and behavior. This work focuses on the various methods currently used for the spinning of artificial silk fibers to replicate natural silk fibers, providing new insights based on changes in the fiber properties and production processes over time.

Constructing Stiff β-Sheet for Self-Reinforced Alginate Fibers

“…This work is designed to address the two major problems in the reinforcement of alginate fibers, namely (1) an effective method to reinforce alginate fibers, as well as (2) preserving the inherent degradability of alginate. In nature, protein-based fibers always simultaneously exhibit robust tensile strength and higher modulus due to a high content of β-sheet in secondary structures [26,27]. β-sheet structures in proteins are usually stiff with high strength [28][29][30].…”

Regulation of the Degradation Properties of Tyrosinase-Catalyzed Crosslinking Silk Membranes for Superficial Wound Repair

“…Various types of silk-based materials that undergo reprocessing, modification, and modulation are used in numerous areas, such as tissue engineering [ 4 ], drug delivery [ 5 ], 3D printing [ 6 ], cell coating [ 7 ], microfluidics [ 8 ], biosensors [ 9 ], and blood vessels [ 10 ]. Nevertheless, one of the major challenges for these silk-based biomaterials is safety and efficacy in vivo tissue healing [ 11 ]. In tissue engineering and regenerative medicine, silk-based biomaterials are used as scaffolds or drug/gene carriers, which must meet the requirements of different tissues with varying degradability of the material [ 12 ].…”