Fabrication of Silk Fibroin/Graphene Film with High Electrical Conductivity and Humidity Sensitivity.

Haoran Zhang,Juntao Zhao,Shenzhou Lu,Guoqiang Chen,Tieling Xing

doi:10.3390/polym11111774

Abstract

Silk fibroin (SF) is a natural material with good biocompatibility and excellent mechanical properties, which are complementary to graphene with ultrahigh electrical conductivity. In this study, to maximally combine graphene and silk fibroin, a well-dispersed silk fibroin/graphene suspension was successfully prepared in a simple and effective way. Then we prepared a flexible conductive SF/graphene film with a minimum resistance of 72.1 ± 4.7 Ω/sq by the casting method. It was found that the electrical conductivity of the SF/graphene film was related to the water content of the film, and the variation was more than 200 times. Therefore, it will play an important role in the field of humidity sensors. It also has excellent mechanical properties in both wet and dry states. These unique features make this material a promising future in the fields of biomedical applications, wearable sensors, and implantable internal sensors.

Highlights

Flexible and wearable electronics have great potential to be applied in human health monitoring systems [1]
Vera-Sanchez et al [23] cultured periodontal ligament stem cells on Silk fibroin (SF)/ graphene oxide (GO) and SF/reduced graphene oxide (RGO) membranes, and the results showed that SF/RGO membrane was more favorable for the differentiation of periodontal ligament stem cells into cementoblasts
Many reports mentioned that PVA could solve the problem of graphene water solubility [28]

Summary

Introduction

Flexible and wearable electronics have great potential to be applied in human health monitoring systems [1] They were made into a variety of sensors to monitor human health, such as strain, pressure, temperature, humidity, and electrochemical sensors [2,3,4,5,6]. Even though they have their multifunctional and powerful monitoring capabilities, they still cause skin discomfort or even rejection during prolonged wear. As a natural macromolecule material, is a good choice for improving skin adaptability and biocompatibility. Electrical, and mechanical properties [20,21,22] due to its 2D sp carbon honeycomb structure.

Methods

Results

Conclusion