Silk Fibroin Waveguides: Biocompatible Silk Printed Optical Waveguides (Adv. Mater. 23/2009)

The cover shows an artistic rendition that merges silk and fiber optics. Supercontinuum white light is guided through a glass optical fiber that surrounds and illuminates silkworm cocoons. The silkworm cocoons shown here are used as the starting point of an extraction process to isolate pure silk fibroin protein in an aqueous solution. The silk is then reconstituted in the form of optical waveguides, as described by Fiorenzo Omenetto and co-workers on p. 2411, opening new opportunities to guide light in an entirely organic and biocompatible material.