Natural silk nanofibers as building blocks for biomimetic aerogel scaffolds

Zhou, Shunshun; Xiao, Jiahui; Ji, Yueyang; Feng, Yuehua; Yan, Shuqin; Li, Xiufang; Zhang, Qiang; You, Renchuan

doi:10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2023.124223

Cited by 10 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 41 publications

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“…Herein, KGM was introduced to assist and stabilize the junction between SNFs as it has the ability to construct high‐density hydrogen bonds (Figure 1a). Our previous work has demonstrated that silk fibroin fibers were decomposed into SNF after mechanical disintegration from an all‐aqueous solution system, which provided building blocks for the nanofibrous scaffolds 25,26 . As seen from the scanning electron microscopy (SEM) image of Figure 1b, the deconstructed SNF were well‐dispersed with a diameter distribution mainly ranging from 100 to 700 nm, which is very close to the diameter of structural protein (50–500 nm) of ECM 1 .…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 76%

“…The structural transformation of KGM after alkali treatment is shown in Figure 3a. The strong peak at 1732 cm −1 was assigned to the CO stretching of the acetyl groups in the repeating structural unit of KGM molecules, the disappearance of the characteristic peak after alkali treatment indicated the successful removal of the acetyl group 26 . In addition, the peak recorded at 1646 cm −1 ascribed to intramolecular bonding shifted to 1634 cm −1 , demonstrating the enhancement of intramolecular forces between KGM molecules 41 .…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 94%

“…The growing of big ice crystals during freezing resulted in the formation of larger pores 35,36 . Moreover, the KGM content significantly affects the binding model with SNF 26,37 . KGM was readily spot‐adhered to the surface of solid SNF and served as attachment points through the strong interfacial interaction when ≤5% KGM was added.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Another versatile approach is to adopt top‐down techniques including ultrasound, 20 homogenization, 21 and chemical solvent‐assisted exfoliation 22–24 to directly extract individual SNF by breaking the hydrogen bonds within the aligned nanofibrils and the polypeptide chains. Because of the high aspect ratio and specific surface area, excellent mechanical properties, exceptional biocompatibility, and biomimetic architecture, the potential of natural SNF has been further explored in the fields of multifunctional biofiltration, drug delivery, tissue engineering, and implantable biosensors 25,26 . SNF have become an attractive foundational element for the fabrication of nanoscale scaffolds.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Silk nanofibrous scaffolds assembled by natural polysaccharide konjac glucomannan

Xiao,

Ji,

Gao

et al. 2023

J of Applied Polymer Sci

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Natural silk fibroin nanofibers (SNF) have recently attracted great attention in the field of biomaterials due to their excellent biocompatibility, outstanding mechanical properties, and biomimetic nanostructures. However, the poor structural stability of SNF assembly in aqueous conditions remains a major obstacle to their biomedical application. In this work, SNF scaffolds with extracellular matrix‐mimicking architecture and tunable properties were developed by using a small amount of konjac glucomannan (KGM) as a physical adhesive. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) results revealed that KGM facilitated the formation of hydrogen bond networks between SNF as well as nanofibers/polysaccharide molecules, thereby reinforcing the interconnectivity between SNF. The water stability test showed that SNF scaffolds exhibited good structural stability in water when the mass ratio of KGM/SNF reached 2.5/100. Raising KGM content significantly enhanced the compression strength, modulus, and swelling ratio of the porous scaffold. Whereas, the nanofibrous morphology and porosity of the scaffolds were significantly sacrificed as KGM content exceeded 10% as evidenced by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) results. In vitro, cytocompatibility results also demonstrated the excellent biocompatibility of the biomimetic nanofibrous scaffolds, and the high porosity significantly enhanced cell viability. These results suggest that KGM‐reinforced SNF scaffolds may serve as promising candidates for biomaterial applications.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 76%

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 94%

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Silk nanofibrous scaffolds assembled by natural polysaccharide konjac glucomannan

Xiao,

Ji,

Gao

et al. 2023

J of Applied Polymer Sci

Self Cite

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Silk Nanofibers/Carbon Nanotube Conductive Aerogel

Feng,

Wang,

Dai

et al. 2024

Macromol. Rapid Commun.

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Natural silk nanofibers (SNF) are attractive conductive substrates due to their high aspect ratio, outstanding mechanical strength, excellent biocompatibility, and controllable degradability. However, the inherently non‐conductivity severely restricts the potential sensor application of SNF‐based aerogels. In this work, the conductive nanofibrous aerogels with low‐density achieved through freeze–drying by dispersing carbon nanotubes (CNT) into SNF suspension. The addition of CNT significantly increases the conductivity with improved mechanical properties of composite aerogels. SEM results reveal that the distinct hierarchical structure comprising micropores and nanofibrous networks within the pores is formed when CNT content reached 30%. Furthermore, increased cell viability suggested the excellent biocompatibility of SNF‐CNT‐based conductive aerogel for tissue‐engineering applications. Subsequently, the elastic water‐borne polyurethane (WPU) is incorporated to SNF‐CNT system to construct aerogel with good sensing properties. The introduction of WPU demonstrates enhanced compressive performances and an exceptionally high elastic recovery ratio of 99.8%, thereby exhibiting a stable and lossless strain‐sensing signal output at 5% strain. This study provides a feasible choice and strategy for exploring the potential application of SNF in functional aerogels.

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