Waste-to-Health Revolution: Upcycling Silk Sericin Byproducts into Circular Biomaterials for Biomedical Engineering

Silk sericin (SS) is often regarded as a significant byproduct and discarded during degumming processes. Concerns over resource waste and environmental pollution have drawn widespread attention to the substantial amounts of waste SS generated during production. Effectively utilizing SS and applying it in the field of biomaterials presents both a major challenge and profound significance. With its biocompatibility and unique physical properties, SS can be transformed into multifunctional biomaterials through optimized extraction and purification processes. SS-based hydrogels, scaffolds, and bioinks exhibit excellent biocompatibility, controllable degradability, and cell-proliferation-promoting capabilities. These materials find applications in biomedical engineering, including wound repair dressings, drug delivery systems, antimicrobial agents, and tissue engineering scaffolds. Transforming SS into valuable resources not only reduces waste emissions from the silk processing industry but also pioneers a new pathway for developing low-cost, recyclable biomaterials. This approach holds broad application prospects in the biomedical field.