Abstract
In the present study, silk was dissolved in CaCl 2 -formic acid and CaCl 2 -C 2 H 5 OH-H 2 O to obtain silk fibroin solution. The dissolve process, morphology, structure and mechanical properties of nanofibers prepared by electrospinning were studied. It showed that nanofibril structures were exhibited in the silk fibroin solution in CaCl 2 -formic acid compared with traditional method dissolving in CaCl 2 -C 2 H 5 OH-H 2 O solution, and the viscosity of the solution was much higher. The average diameter of nanofibers prepared by CaCl 2 -formic acid dissolution method was 375±26nm, and it showed well drawability, after stretching to 1 times, its breaking strength and elongation at break reaching 18.6±3.8MPa and 14.0±2.5%, respectively, was improved obviously relative to nanofibers prepared by CaCl 2 -C 2 H 5 OH-H 2 O dissolution method. It demonstrated that the good mechanical property of fibers was contributed to the fibrillar structures in the solution.
Highlights
Natural silk from the silkworm, Bombyx mori, has been used as biomedical suture material for centuries[1]
The viscosity of solution was showed in Fig.1(B), the viscosity was higher compared with traditional method dissolving in CaCl2-C2H5OH-H2O solution, and was able to satisfy the electrospinning process
The average diameter of nanofibers prepared by CaCl2-formic acid dissolution method was 375±26nm, which much higher than SF-CaCl2-C2H5OH-H2O with diameter of 132±15nm
Summary
Natural silk from the silkworm, Bombyx mori, has been used as biomedical suture material for centuries[1]. Silk fibroin is a nature protein and is known to promote cell attachment and proliferation and tissue regeneration. It has been reported that the biological features of silk fibroin make it a very good choice for use as regeneration [2,3]. Silk fibroin has been widely explored in many biomedical applications due to its impressive biocompatibility, biodegradability, minimal inflammatory reactions [4,5]. Electrospinning is a unique method capable of producing nanoscale fibers from both synthetic as well as natural polymers for biomedical applications [6,7]. The cylinder collector rotating at high speed can obtain aligned fiber was a simple and common way relative to other methods to obtain aligned fiber[8]. If the speed of collector was too higher, the fibers were to fracture
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