Robust Biocompatible Fibers from Silk Fibroin Coated MXene Sheets

Conductive fibers are needed for the development of flexible electronic and biomedical devices. MXene fibers show great promise for use in such applications because of their high conductivity. Current literature on MXene fiber development highlights the need for improving their mechanical properties and investigation of biocompatibility. Here the use of silk fibroin biopolymer as a MXene formulation additive for the production of MXene fibers is studied. It is found that the favorable silk fibroin-MXene interactions resulted in improved durability, withstanding up to 1 h of high frequency sonication in buffered solutions. Furthermore, fibers with approximate to 5 wt% silk fibroin displays interesting properties including high conductivity (approximate to 3700 S cm(-1)), high volumetric capacitance (approximate to 910 F cm(-3)), and non-cytotoxicity toward THP-1 monocytic cells. The results presented here provide an important insight into potential use of MXene fibers in flexible electronics and biomedical applications.

Automated summary

It has been found that using silk fibroin biopolymer as an additive for MXene fiber production improves durability, conductivity, and volumetric capacitance. These fibers also show no cytotoxicity towards THP-1 monocytic cells, making them suitable for flexible electronics and biomedical applications.