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Miscibility and Biodegradability of Silk Fibroin/Carboxymethyl Chitin Blend Films
Author(s) -
Wongpanit Panya,
Tabata Yasuhiko,
Rujiravanit Ratana
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
macromolecular bioscience
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.924
H-Index - 105
eISSN - 1616-5195
pISSN - 1616-5187
DOI - 10.1002/mabi.200700074
Subject(s) - fibroin , miscibility , fourier transform infrared spectroscopy , chitin , chemical engineering , biodegradation , silk , swelling , aqueous solution , polymer chemistry , materials science , polymer , polymer blend , methanol , chemistry , chitosan , composite material , organic chemistry , copolymer , engineering
Blend films of silk fibroin and carboxymethyl chitin were prepared by solution casting using water as a cosolvent. The blend films were subjected to post‐treatment with an aqueous methanol solution to induce β ‐sheet formation of silk fibroin. The miscibility of the blend films both before and after methanol treatments was investigated in terms of chemical interactions, morphologies, thermal properties, and crystal structures by using FTIR spectroscopy, SEM, DSC, and XRD. The results indicate that the blend between silk fibroin and CM‐chitin was semi‐miscible because only the amorphous parts of the polymers were compatible with each other. The enzymatic degradation showed that the incorporation of CM‐chitin enhanced biodegradability and swelling ability of silk fibroin.