Fabrication of ZIF-8@SF Linear Composite Through Directly Feeding Approach

Silk fibroin (SF) derived composites play an important role in regenerative medicine and tissue engineering fields. In this study, through a simple, yet green and sustainable approach, ZIF-8@SF composite was firstly prepared, and its morphological, structural, thermal and mechanical properties were systematically studied. After ZIF-8 feeding, no marked side effect for silkworms was found. The as-prepared composite had 3% of ZIF-8, and a maximum strain of 28%, which was 17% higher than that of the natural SF. Results from SEM, FTIR, XRD and TGA showed that the essential characteristics of SF were well inherited with ZIF-8 addition, suggesting that ZIF-8@SF had a great potential of being used in bio-relevant fields. Noticeably, this study is the first time to develop ZIF-8@SF composite, and the in vivo feeding approach is very promising for commercial production.