Facile preparation for robust and freestanding silk fibroin films in a 1‐butyl‐3‐methyl imidazolium acetate ionic liquid system

Silk fibroin film (SFF) with excellent mechanical properties was prepared for the first time with Bombyx mori silk fibroin as the material and 1‐butyl‐3‐methyl imidazolium acetate (Bmim]OAc) ionic liquid (IL) as the solvent. The aim was to understand whether the microstructure of SFF could be modified and whether the mechanical properties were improved when Bmim]OAc IL was used as a solution. With this new system, the obtained SFF was easily peeled off of the substrate, and the silk fibroin proteins retained the α‐helix secondary structure (silk I). Further test results show that the tensile strength (126.8–129.7 MPa) and anti‐UV performance were stronger than the silk fibroin regenerated by traditional ways. Therefore, this study provided and identified a new method with Bmim]OAc to obtain SFF with strong mechanical properties. This facile preparation and related SFF with excellent mechanical strength could have potential applications in biocompatible implants, synthetic coatings for artificial skin, and many other areas. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2015 , 132, 42822.