Electrospun Fibers from Wheat Protein:  Investigation of the Interplay between Molecular Structure and the Fluid Dynamics of the Electrospinning Process

Abstract

In the present work, we demonstrate the ability to electrospin wheat gluten, a polydisperse plant protein polymer that is currently available at roughly 0.50 dollars/lb. A variety of electrospinning experiments were carried out with wheat gluten from two sources, at different solution concentrations, and with native and denatured wheat gluten to illustrate the interplay between protein structure and the fluid dynamics of the electrospinning process. The presence of both cylindrical and flat fibers was observed in the nonwoven mats, which were characterized using both polarized optical microscopy and field emission scanning electron microscopy. Retardance images obtained by polarized optical microscopy exhibited evidence of molecular orientation at the surface of the fibers. We believe that fiber formation by electrospinning is a result of both chain entanglements and the presence of reversible junctions in the protein, in particular, the breaking and re-forming of disulfide bonds that occur via a thiol/disulfide interchange reaction. The presence of the highest molecular weight glutenin polymer chains in the wheat protein appeared to be responsible for the lower threshold concentration for fiber formation, relative to that of a lower molecular weight fraction of wheat protein devoid of the high molecular weight glutenin component. Denaturation of the wheat protein, however, clearly disrupted this delicate balance of properties in the experimental regimes we investigated, as electrospun fibers from the denatured state were not observed.

Sub-micron sized saccharide fibres via electrospinning

“…electrospinability) [43]. Hence, the present experimental findings are not consistent with the view that fibre formation during electrospinning is inextricably linked to intermolecular chain entanglements [24,[43][44][45].…”

“…The electrospinning of biopolymers such as chitosan polysaccharides [5][6][7][8][9][10], cellulose compounds [11][12][13][14], and proteins like collagen [15][16][17][18], zein [19][20][21][22][23][24], bovine serum albumin [25] and others [25][26][27][28][29][30] is well described in the literature. Electrospun polysaccharides [31,32] and other bio-polymer based nanofibres show significant potential for a variety of biomedical applications [33][34][35] such as tissue engineering, wound dressing and cosmetics [15,34,36,37].…”

Cytocompatible cross-linking of electrospun zein fibers for the development of water-stable tissue engineering scaffolds

“…Moreover, cell growth on electrospun scaffolds was better than that on the film scaffolds (Figure 4, PLA vs. PLAF, SHPXL, XL-L, XL-M, and XL-H vs. ZFXL), since the porous structure of electrospun fiber mats was able to facilitate the transportation of oxygen, nutrients, and the metabolic waste of cells, and the migration of cells and communication between them, all of which contribute to better cell growth [15,[39][40][41]. Furthermore, after 24h fewer cells were growing on the electrospun zein fibers cross-linked using SHP (SHPXL) than on samples XL-L, XL-M, and XL-H cross-linked without SHP.…”

Engineering on the Straight and Narrow: The Mechanics of Nanofibrous Assemblies for Fiber-Reinforced Tissue Regeneration

“…41 Electrospinning synthetic and natural polymers Production of meshes via electrospinning has been carried out with numerous polymers, including polyurethanes, 42 biodegradable polyesters (e.g., polycaprolactone [PCL], 41,[43][44][45] polyglycolic acid, 46 59 and wheat gluten. 60 Additionally, liquid blends of biosynthetic and natural components have been electrospun (with components thus mixed in every fiber) to create meshes with enhanced cell compatibility. 61,62 The most common appearance of such blends is in the combination of two dissimilar synthetic materials to result in a blend fiber that has properties of both, or a natural and a synthetic fiber combined to impart biologic functionality to the fibers as they form.…”