Abstract
As a kind of natural macromolecular protein molecule extracted from silk, silk fibroin (SF) has been widely used as biological materials in recent years due to its good physical and chemical properties. In this paper, a modified bubble-electrospinning (MBE) using a cone-shaped gas nozzle combined with a copper solution reservoir was applied to obtain high-throughput fabrication of SF nanofibers. In the MBE process, sodium dodecyl benzene sulfonates (SDBS) were used as the surfactant to improve the spinnability of SF solution. The rheological properties and conductivity of the electrospun SF solutions were investigated. And the effects of gas flow volume, SF solution concentration and additive amounts of SDBS on the morphology, property and production of SF nanofibers were studied. The results showed the decrease of gas flow volume could decrease the nanofiber diameter, enhance the diameter distribution, and increase the production of nanofibers. And the maximum yield could reach 3.10 g/h at the SF concentration of 10 wt % and the SDBS concentration of 0.1 wt %.
Highlights
Silk fibroin (SF), a kind of natural protein derived from silkworm cocoons, is a widely used as one of the most popular materials for biomedical applications due to its distinct biological properties [1,2], such as good biocompatibility, biodegradability, good cell adhesion and non-toxicity [3,4]
Compared to BE, the modified bubble-electrospinning (MBE) using a cone-shaped polymer nozzle combined with a copper solution reservoir could produce nanofibers under a much higher applied voltage which would improve the quality and production of nanofibers
High-throughput fabrication of SF nanofibers has been obtained by a modified bubble-electrospinning (MBE) using a cone-shaped polymer nozzle combined with a copper solution reservoir
Summary
Silk fibroin (SF), a kind of natural protein derived from silkworm cocoons, is a widely used as one of the most popular materials for biomedical applications due to its distinct biological properties [1,2], such as good biocompatibility, biodegradability, good cell adhesion and non-toxicity [3,4]. Through being dissolved and purified, SF obtained from degummed silk can be used to prepare a variety of biomaterials, such as membranes, gels and fibers. Among the forms of biomaterials, SF nanofiber membranes fabricated by electrospinning have great potential for biomedical applications because of their high ratio of surface area and superior mechanical properties [13]. Electrospun SF nanofibers have attracted much attention in the field of tissue engineering [17,18]. Nalvuran et al [17] used electrospinning to obtain nanofibrous SF/reduced graphene oxide scaffolds for tissue engineering and cell culture applications. Brito-Pereira et al [6] prepared SF-magnetic hybrid composite electrospun fibers for tissue engineering applications. The conventional single-needle spinning has a very fatal weakness: low production, usually at the level of 0.01–0.1 g/h, which leads to inhibit the industrial application of nanofibers [19]
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