Dissolution and regeneration of silk from silkworm Bombyx mori in ionic liquids and its application to medical biomaterials.

The dissolution and regeneration of silk fibre have long been an issue for producers of silk. The high solubility of silk fibroin (SF) in ionic liquids (ILs) is a promising new avenue in silk dissolution and regeneration as it may allow for a significant reduction in operational steps required for SF regeneration and the subsequent formation of SF biomaterials. The regenerated SF solution can be prepared by dissolving directly SF in ILs without the tedious steps of degumming, dissolution and dialysis. Besides, the regenerated SF solution can simply form different SF biomaterials with the help of coagulant, and ILs can be separated from SF biomaterials easily during SF solidification. The goal of this work is to summarize the commonly used ILs for dissolving silk protein and their dissolution methods and to present the potential application of SF/ILs mixed solution in medical biomaterials.