Silk Fibroin-Based Triboelectric Nanogenerators for Energy Harvesting and Biomedical Applications

Abstract

Triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs) developed from eco-friendly natural materials rather than traditional electronic materials are more favorable for biocompatible applications and for use in sustainable life-cycle analysis. Silk fibroin (SF) has emerged as an abundant natural biomaterial that shows great potential in the preparation of TENGs. Silk-based triboelectric nanogenerators (SF-TENGs) have green energy harvesting properties, are environmentally friendly, are biocompatible, are not fully present in conventional TENGs, and are important for the next generation of selfpowered electronic devices. In this review, the latest progress in SF-TENGs, including their applied materials, structural properties, manufacturing processes, and application scenarios, is discussed. These SF-TENGs show great potential for use in emerging energy and electronic applications as well as smart living and medical assistance. In addition, the potential value of SF-TENGs has been further explored, and the possibility and main challenges of expanding and applying SF-TENGs to the field of microneedles (MNs) are discussed.

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

“…Silk is composed of silk gelatin proteins, which have the greatest properties and performance, and silk gel proteins, which are hydrophilic and need to be removed before use. After degumming treatment to remove sericin, the resulting solution can be used to prepare regenerated silk protein fibers by various processing methods (electrostatic spinning, 22,23 wet spinning, 24,25 dry spinning, 19 direct writing 26 and microfluidic spinning). 27,28 However, the mechanical strength of regenerated silk fibers is lower than that of the original silk, which can be optimized by optimizing the preparation process, improving the spinning conditions, and introducing cross-linking 29 agents to enhance intermolecular binding.…”