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Fiber Formation from Silk Fibroin Using Pressurized Gyration
Author(s) -
Heseltine Phoebe Louiseanne,
Hosken Joseph,
Agboh Chris,
Farrar David,
HomerVanniasinkam Shervanthi,
Edirisinghe Mohan
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
macromolecular materials and engineering
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.913
H-Index - 96
eISSN - 1439-2054
pISSN - 1438-7492
DOI - 10.1002/mame.201800577
Subject(s) - fibroin , materials science , fourier transform infrared spectroscopy , silk , microfiber , fiber , composite material , random coil , gyration , morphology (biology) , polymer , polymer science , chemical engineering , crystallography , chemistry , circular dichroism , geometry , mathematics , biology , genetics , engineering
Silk has attracted considerable interest for use in biomedical applications due to its high strength and promising biocompatibility. Degummed silk, consisting only of silk fibroin (SF), has been processed using various methods and can be made into films, sponges, and fibers. Pressurized gyration (PG) is capable of rapidly producing aligned fibers and offers a great amount of control over their structure and morphology. Here, SF fibers are produced for the first time using PG. The effect of varying SF concentration and applied working pressure to the gyration vessel is reported, along with the resulting effect on fiber diameter, morphology, and structural composition. Aligned microfibers are found at concentrations of 8, 10, 12 w/v%, with the lowest fiber diameters reported at 8 w/v% SF 0.3 MPa applied pressure (2.1 ± 1.3 µm). Fourier‐transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) confirms the existence of PG spun fibers in both random coil and β‐sheet formations.