Abstract: The present invention provides use of an aromatic alcohol as a structural inducer for silk fibroin, and also provides a method for treating silk fibroin. The method includes the following steps: bringing silk fibroin into contact with an aromatic alcohol-containing vapor or liquid to induce the structural transformation of silk fibroin, to obtain a water-insoluble silk fibroin, wherein the mechanical performance of the resulting silk fibroin material and the bonding strength between the silk fibroin material and a substrate material are over 50% higher than those of a silk fibroin material obtained by a traditional treatment method (induction with methanol, ethanol, and steam).