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Orientational behaviors of silk fibroin hydrogels
Author(s) -
Chen Daqi,
Yin Zhuping,
Wu Feng,
Fu Hua,
Kundu Subhas C.,
Lu Shenzhou
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
journal of applied polymer science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.575
H-Index - 166
eISSN - 1097-4628
pISSN - 0021-8995
DOI - 10.1002/app.45050
Subject(s) - fibroin , materials science , shearing (physics) , surfactin , composite material , silk , biology , bacillus subtilis , bacteria , genetics
In this study, a novel shear‐induced silk fibroin (SF) hydrogel with three‐dimensional (3D) anisotropic and oriented gel skeleton/network morphology is presented. Amphipathic anionic and nontoxic sodium surfactin is blended with the SF to decrease its gelation time during the mechanical shearing process. The fibroin/surfactin blended solutions undergo a facial shearing process to accomplish a sol–gel transition within 1 hour. The dynamic sol–gel transition kinetic analysis, gel skeleton/network morphology, and mechanical property measurements are determined in order to visualize the fibroin/surfactin sol–gel transition during the shearing process and its resulting hydrogel. The results demonstrate that there is significant β‐sheet assembly from random coil conformations in the fibroin/surfactin blended system during the facile shearing process. The SF β‐sheets further transform into a fibrous large‐scale aggregation with orientational and parallel arrangements to the shearing direction. The shear‐induced fibroin/surfactin hydrogel exhibits notable anisotropic and oriented 3D skeleton/network morphology and a significant mechanical compressive strength in proportion to the shearing stress, compared with the control fibroin/surfactin hydrogel undergoing no shearing process. Due to its oriented gel skeleton/network structure and significantly enhanced mechanical properties, the shear‐induced fibroin/surfactin gel may be suitable as a biomaterial in 3D oriented tissue regeneration, including for nerves, the cultivation of bone cells, and the repair of defects in muscle and ligament tissues. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2017 , 134 , 45050.