Silk-based biomaterials for regenerative medicine and energy harvesting

Date

2025-3-04

Author

Tufan, Yiğithan

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This study can broadly be divided into two parts, each addressing the use of silk fibroin-based biomaterials in developing triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs) for body-integrated self-powered electronic devices. In the first part, an alternative approach to enhancing TENG performance is explored using electrochemically modified zinc. Nanowires with a layered zinc hydroxide-based structure and an average diameter of 97 ± 9 nm are produced on the zinc surface. Incorporating these nanostructures as an intermediate layer in a silk-based TENG system offers a simple, reproducible method for enhanced TENG output with a nearly 8-fold increase in output voltage generating approximately 5 μW power. Additionally, a mouthguard integrated with the designed TENG system enables real-time monitoring of occlusal force distribution and bite dynamics, distinguishing between fast and slow biting as well as grinding. The second part of this study investigates the cardiomyogenic differentiation of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) and the energy harvesting from simulated cardiac motion. Silk fibroin-based porous scaffolds, optimized for mechanical, degradation, and biological properties, facilitate iPSC differentiation into cardiomyocytes and also serve as TENG electrodes. Incorporating carbon nanofibers brings electrical conductivity into the scaffolds (0.021 ± 0.006 S/cm) and allows for precise tuning of their mechanical properties. The resulting TENG system generates a peak power output of 0.37 × 10⁻³ mW/m², under simulated cardiac motions, showing the potential of scaffolds as cardiac patches that simultaneously allow energy harvesting. Overall, this thesis demonstrates the potential of silk fibroin-based biomaterials for both implantable and wearable self-powered devices.

Subject Keywords

Size-Controlled Nanowires, Silk Fibroin, Triboelectric Nanogenerators, Porous Scaffolds, Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells

URI

https://hdl.handle.net/11511/113773

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Graduate School of Natural and Applied Sciences, Thesis