Silk fibroin/reduced graphene oxide composite mats with enhanced mechanical properties and conductivity for tissue engineering.

Abstract In this work, we described a green and simple approach for fabricating regenerated silk fibroin (RSF)/reduced graphene oxide (RGO) fibrous mats by reducing GO in the RSF/GO mats through hydrothermal treatment. As a comparison, RSF mat incorporated with graphene (Gr) was fabricated by solution mixing method. Results showed that the reduction of GO in the mats did take place during hydrothermal treatment. An increase in the crystallinity of the mats was induced by hydrothermal treatment. The maximum Young’s modulus of RSF/RGO mats reached (122.7 ± 3.1) MPa, which was at least 9-fold higher than RSF mats. As the mass ratio of RGO/RSF was 1.5/100, the average sheet resistance of RSF/RGO mats reached (1.2 ± 0.1)×108 Ω/sq, which was better and more stable than that of RSF/Gr mats. Furthermore, cellular tests and antibacterial tests demonstrated that RSF/RGO mats possessed better biocompatibility and antibacterial property in comparison with RSF mats incorporated with GO or Gr. Thus, the RSF/RGO mats could be a good candidate for tissue engineering applications.