Impregnation of silk sericin into polyester fibers using supercritical carbon dioxide

Abstract

Silk sericin was impregnated into polyester fabric using supercritical carbon dioxide (SCCO 2 ) to overcome polyester hydrophobicity. The effects of sericin molecular weight, pH of sericin, solution and cosolvent types on sericin impregnation were investigated. Enzyme-hydrolyzed, acid-, based-hydrolyzed sericin in SCCO 2 , and a 30 kDa sericin in SCCO 2 modified with cosolvents such as water, methanol, 1-propanol, and acetone; and a modifier: sodium hydroxide solution were used in this work. Impregnation of sericin in polyester was indicated by Fourier transform infrared spectrophotometry (FTIR) and dyeing with acid dye. Degradation of polyester fibers during SCCO 2 process was indicated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Methylene blue dyeing was used to realize carboxyl group in polyester. The results showed no impregnation of sericin into polyester by using SCCO 2 modified with cosolvents. However, sericin was impregnated into modified surface polyester since hydrophilic groups such as carboxyl and hydroxyl groups were regenerated by alkaline hydrolysis. Samples impregnated with hydrolyzed sericin showed high color strength of Supranolechtbordeaux B acid dye.

Hydrophilic Surface Functionalization of Electrospun Nanofibrous Scaffolds in Tissue Engineering

“…Since –COOR groups are hardly available on the modified polymers’ surface, strong acidic conditions, elevated temperature, and appropriate time are required [ 31 ]. In the acid hydrolysis, mineral acids such as H 2 SO 4 , HClO 4 , and HCl and organic acids such as acetic acid (AA) or lactic acid (LA) are typically used [ 39 , 41 , 42 ]. Boland et al chose 11.7 M HCl over NaOH for hydrolysis of PGA scaffolds to avoid a fiber diameter decrease.…”

Refining hot-water extracted silk sericin by ethanol-induced precipitation

“…Considering that the annual production of silk cocoons is about 600,000 tons, nearly 150,000 tons of SS are abandoned every year, which could be a good natural resource if recycled. There are continuous efforts to reuse SS in various fields [3][4][5][6] but still their application is limited due to some unsuitable properties.…”

Chemical Modification of Cotton Fabric Using Chitosan and Hydrolyzed Silk Fibroin

“…Further increase in concentrations of HF to 0.32 and 0.40 %w/v, the values of the finished cotton fabrics (G_CF 0.32 and G_CF 0.40) are increased, the highest value is observed when 0.40 %w/v HF was used. Increase in %water absorption clearly correlates with change in fabric surface properties, hydrophilic groups from HF retained water molecules, hydrogel film was subsequently generated during the measurement, thereby great values were observed as was found in sericin silk protein finished on cotton and polyester fabrics [22][23][24][25].…”