From mesoscopic reconstruction to flexible meso-electronics based on nucleation control refolding rerouting of silk fibroin materials

Abstract

Attributed to advanced structural characterization techniques, mesoscopic hierarchical structures as well as crystal network structures have been verified in both natural and artificial soft materials including silk fibroin materials. Notably, the close correlation between mesoscopic structures (especially the structure of crystallite and crystal network) and macroscopic properties suggests that the functionalization of SF materials could start from the mesoscopic structure reconstruction in a designed manner. This review gives an overview of recent SF materials with novel and enhanced properties which are achieved by meso doping as well as meso hybridization via directing the nucleation pathways and changing nucleation kinetics. Besides, the kinetic meso reconstruction factor λ is also put forward and emphasized to quantitatively describe the templating effects of specific templating seeds, irrespective of macromolecules or nano functional seeds. The as-acquired functionalized SF materials can be further applied to fabricate bio-compatible and degradable flexible/implantable meso electronic devices (e.g., E-skins and memristors), and applicable to on-skin long-term monitoring of human physiological conditions, in-body sensing, information processing and storage.