Deduction of a facile method to construct Antheraea mylitta silk fibroin/gelatin blend films for prospective biomedical applications

Abstract

Blend films of two types (I and II) were prepared by mixing Antheraea mylitta silk fibroin (AMF) and gelatin solution in various blend ratios via the solution casting method. Two different crosslinkers, namely glutaraldehyde and genipin, were used during blend preparation. The structural characteristics and thermal properties of the blend films were examined by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD), Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and Diffrential scanning calorimetery (DSC). The FTIR spectra showed conformational alterations in type I blend films while type II films attained high ⊎-sheet crystallinity. The XRD diffractograms presented a high degree of crystallinity in type II blend films compared to type I, which showed an almost amorphous structure. Further, thermal and biological studies were conducted on type II films. According to the TGA thermograms, the degradation temperature of the crosslinked blend films shifted compared to pure gelatin and pure AMF films. Partial miscibility of the two components was indicated by DSC thermograms of the blends. The high water uptake capacity of type II blend films was found to imitate hydrogel behaviour. The blend films did not show any toxicity in 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay and supported L929 fibroblast cell spreading and proliferation. The biodegradation of the blend films was significantly faster than the pure silk film.

Cetyl Trimethyl Ammonium Bromide Modified Montmorillonite‐Doped Tasar Silk Fibroin/Polyvinyl Alcohol Blend 3D Nanowebs for Tissue Engineering Applications

“…In one of our previous study on silk fibroin gelatin blend films, the enzymatic degradation was found to be varying with change in the distribution of crystallinity in the molecular structures, the blends with higher crystallinity showed slower biodegradation. [59] She et al have reported similar correlation of high crystallinity and low biodegradation for B. mori silk fibroin films. [60] In this study, the samples incorporating CTAB-MT clay showed less degradation as compared to their corresponding blends without clay, this could be attributed to the altered hydrophilicity and reduced porosity of the material as a result of clay introduction.…”

“…Preparation of Modified Clay Doped Nanowebs: Silk fibroin stock solution (10% w/v) was prepared following the method described in a previously reported work. [59] PVA stock solution (10% w/v) was prepared using formic acid as solvent. These two solutions were mixed together in blend ratios 50:50 and 30:70 to prepare PSNF50 and PSNF70 blend solutions, respectively.…”

“…To calculate the crystallinity, deconvolution of the XRD patterns was carried out by OriginPro 9.0 software with gaussian function to be the resolved peak shape. [59] The percentage crystallinity was calculated using Equation (2) % Crystallinity = Area under the crystalline peak Area under the crystalline + amorphous peak × 100 (2)…”

Enhancement of functional properties by blending cocoon extracted Antheraea mylitta silk fibroin with polyvinyl alcohol for applications in biomedical field

“…The S100 film showed 42.68% β-sheet crystallinity which is in close agreement with our previous studies and the data reported in literature for wild type regenerated silk fibroin. 25,33 P30S70, P50S50 and P70S30 showed 24.88%, 11%, and 10.36% crystallinity, respectively.…”

“…The surface roughness might have appeared as a consequence of incubating the blend films in methanol to regenerate the crystallinity similar to observations made in our previous studies on non-mulberry silk fibroin materials. 7,25 Rough surface morphology is generally pragmatic to support cell attachment in biomaterials. 26 In most of the studies reported in literature, clear phase separation has been observed in silk fibroin and PVA blends, only one study reported by Um et al presented homogeneous morphology through SEM but the variety of silk used was mulberry.…”