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Conductive fibers are needed for the development of flexible electronic and biomedical devices. MXene fibers show great promise for use in such applications because of their high conductivity. Current literature on MXene fiber development highlights the need for improving their mechanical properties and investigation of biocompatibility. Here the use of silk fibroin biopolymer as a MXene formulation additive for the production of MXene fibers is studied. It is found that the favorable silk fibroin–MXene interactions resulted in improved durability, withstanding up to 1 h of high frequency sonication in buffered solutions. Furthermore, fibers with ≈5 wt% silk fibroin displays interesting properties including high conductivity (≈3700 S cm−1), high volumetric capacitance (≈910 F cm−3), and non‐cytotoxicity toward THP‐1 monocytic cells. The results presented here provide an important insight into potential use of MXene fibers in flexible electronics and biomedical applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Conductive fibers are needed for the development of flexible electronic and biomedical devices. MXene fibers show great promise for use in such applications because of their high conductivity. Current literature on MXene fiber development highlights the need for improving their mechanical properties and investigation of biocompatibility. Here the use of silk fibroin biopolymer as a MXene formulation additive for the production of MXene fibers is studied. It is found that the favorable silk fibroin–MXene interactions resulted in improved durability, withstanding up to 1 h of high frequency sonication in buffered solutions. Furthermore, fibers with ≈5 wt% silk fibroin displays interesting properties including high conductivity (≈3700 S cm−1), high volumetric capacitance (≈910 F cm−3), and non‐cytotoxicity toward THP‐1 monocytic cells. The results presented here provide an important insight into potential use of MXene fibers in flexible electronics and biomedical applications.

The outstanding electrical conductivity and high specific capacitance of 2D Ti3C2Tx MXene have made them promising materials for a wide range of applications including wearable electronics, energy storage, sensors, and electromagnetic interference shielding. However, the fabrication of MXene architectures, both pure and composite, often results in a trade‐off in properties. Here, it is reported that sequential bridging of MXene sheets significantly enhances the mechanical properties of its free‐standing films, with improvements in strength and toughness of up to ≈339 MPa and ≈12.0 MJ m−3, respectively, while simultaneously retaining both high conductivity (≈4850 S cm−1) and volumetric capacitance (≈1220 F cm−3). This sequential bridging strategy permits surface modification of MXene sheets while still yielding stable colloidal dispersions so that the subsequent MXene films comprise of aligned, evenly‐spaced, and interconnected sheets, which are critical for the development of robust energy storage devices and other high performance applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]