Huili Shao

Significantly Reinforced Composite Fibers Electrospun from Silk Fibroin/Carbon Nanotube Aqueous Solutions

Microcomposite fibers of regenerated silk fibroin (RSF) and multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWNTs) were successfully prepared by an electrospinning process from aqueous solutions. A quiescent blended solution and a three-dimensional Raman image of the composite fibers showed that functionalized MWNTs (F-MWNTs) were well dispersed in the solutions and the RSF fibers, respectively. Raman spectra and wide-angle X-ray diffraction (WAXD) patterns of RSF/F-MWNT electrospun fibers indicated that the composite fibers had higher β-sheet content and crystallinity than the pure RSF electrospun fibers, respectively. The mechanical properties of the RSF electrospun fibers were improved drastically by incorporating F-MWNTs. Compared with the pure RSF electrospun fibers, the composite fibers with 1.0 wt % F-MWNTs exhibited a 2.8-fold increase in breaking strength, a 4.4-fold increase in Youngs modulus, and a 2.1-fold increase in breaking energy. Cytotoxicity test preliminarily demonstrated that the electrospun fiber mats have good biocompatibility for tissue engineering scaffolds.

Preparation of regenerated silk fibroin/silk sericin fibers by coaxial electrospinning

The coaxial electrospinning using the regenerated silk fibroin (SF) and silk sericin (SS) aqueous solutions as the core and shell spinning dopes, respectively, was carried out to prepare regenerated SF/SS composite fibers with components and core-shell structure similar to the natural silkworm silks. It was found from the scanning electron microscope (SEM) and transmission electron microscope (TEM) results that the core dope (SF aqueous solution) flow rate (Q(c)) and the applied voltage (V) had some effects on the morphology of the composite fiber. With an increase in Q(c), the diameter nonuniformity and eccentricity of the core fiber became serious, while the increasing V played an inverse role. In this work, the suitable Q(c) for the fiber formation with better electrospinnability was about 6 μL/min, and the corresponding optimum V was 40 kV. Moreover, the results from Raman spectra analysis, modulated differential scanning calorimetry (MDSC), thermogravimetry (TG) measurement and mechanical property test showed that, compared with the pure SF fiber, the coaxially electrospun SF/SS fiber had more β-sheet conformation, better thermostability and mechanical properties. This was probably because that SS played significant roles in dehydrating SF molecules and inducing the conformational transition of SF to β-sheet structure.

The structure–property relationships of artificial silk fabricated by dry-spinning process

Regenerated silk fibroin (RSF) fibers were dry-spun from RSF aqueous solution and then post-treated in ethanol aqueous solution. In order to prepare artificial silk which are tougher and stronger than their natural counterpart, the structure–property relationships of the RSF fibers and natural silkworm silks were investigated by using synchrotron radiation X-ray microdiffraction technology, birefringence measurements and Raman spectroscopy. The as-spun RSF fibers with poor mechanical properties exhibited a strong diffraction peak of the [021] lattice plane and a weak diffraction peak of the [020]/[200] lattice plane. However, both the natural silk and the post-treated RSF fibers with exceptional mechanical properties showed weak diffraction peaks of the [021] lattice plane and strong diffraction peaks of the [020]/[200] lattice plane. Nevertheless, the two crystalline peaks are attributed to the silk II structure of silk fibroin. By deconvoluting the one-dimensional wide-angle X-ray microdiffraction pattern, the crystallinity and the degree of crystalline orientation were obtained. The as-spun fibers showed low crystallinity and low crystalline orientation, but the microstructure of the RSF fibers could be improved greatly and even become similar to that of degummed cocoon silk by post-treatment. When the as-spun RSF fibers were first drawn 3 to 4 times with a draw rate of 0.9 mm s−1 in ethanol aqueous solution and then immersed in the same solution for another hour, the breaking strain and breaking energy of the post-treated fibers were significantly greater than those of degummed cocoon silk.

Tough silk fibers prepared in air using a biomimetic microfluidic chip.

Microfluidic chips with single channel were built to mimic the shear and elongation conditions in the spinning apparatus of spider and silkworm. Silk fibers dry-spun from regenerated silk fibroin (RSF) aqueous solution using the chip could be tougher than degummed natural silk. The artificial silk exhibited a breaking strength up to 614 MPa, a breaking elongation up to 27% and a breaking energy of 101 kJ/kg.

Hybrid Silk Fibers Dry-Spun from Regenerated Silk Fibroin/Graphene Oxide Aqueous Solutions

Regenerated silk fibroin (RSF)/graphene oxide (GO) hybrid silk fibers were dry-spun from a mixed dope of GO suspension and RSF aqueous solution. It was observed that the presence of GO greatly affect the viscosity of RSF solution. The RSF/GO hybrid fibers showed from FTIR result lower β-sheet content compared to that of pure RSF fibers. The result of synchrotron radiation wide-angle X-ray diffraction showed that the addition of GO confined the crystallization of silk fibroin (SF) leading to the decrease of crystallinity, smaller crystallite size, and new formation of interphase zones in the artificial silks. Synchrotron radiation small-angle X-ray scattering also proved that GO sheets in the hybrid silks and blended solutions were coated with a certain thickness of interphase zones due to the complex interaction between the two components. A low addition of GO, together with the mesophase zones formed between GO and RSF, enhanced the mechanical properties of hybrid fibers. The highest breaking stress of the hybrid fibers reached 435.5 ± 71.6 MPa, 23% improvement in comparison to that of degummed silk and 72% larger than that of pure RSF silk fiber. The hybrid RSF/GO materials with good biocompatibility and enhanced mechanical properties may have potential applications in tissue engineering, bioelectronic devices, or energy storage.

In vitro studies on the structure and properties of silk fibroin aqueous solutions in silkworm

The spinning process of silkworm in vivo attracts great attentions. In this work, the structures and properties of the silk fibroin (SF) aqueous solutions from different divisions of silk glands of silkworms were investigated by using polarized microscope, rotational rheometer, Raman spectrometer and dynamic laser light scattering instrument. It was found that only the anterior (A) division and the anterior part of middle division (MA) of silk gland showed birefringence. With flowing from the posterior part (MP) to the MA part in the middle division of silk gland, the SF aqueous solutions was gradually transformed from random coil/α-helix to β-sheet conformation. Meantime, the elastic and viscous nature of the SF aqueous solution changed, and the mean diameter of SF aggregates increased from 118 nm to 331 nm. It could be concluded that the structures and properties of the SF aqueous solutions were gradually changed along the silk gland and the liquid crystal structure was initially formed in the MA part of silk gland.

Antheraea pernyi Silk Fiber: A Potential Resource for Artificially Biospinning Spider Dragline Silk

The outstanding properties of spider dragline silk are likely to be determined by a combination of the primary sequences and the secondary structure of the silk proteins. Antheraea pernyi silk has more similar sequences to spider dragline silk than the silk from its domestic counterpart, Bombyx mori. This makes it much potential as a resource for biospinning spider dragline silk. This paper further verified its possibility as the resource from the mechanical properties and the structures of the A. pernyi silks prepared by forcible reeling. It is surprising that the stress-strain curves of the A. pernyi fibers show similar sigmoidal shape to those of spider dragline silk. Under a controlled reeling speed of 95 mm/s, the breaking energy was 1.04 × 105 J/kg, the tensile strength was 639 MPa and the initial modulus was 9.9 GPa. It should be noted that this breaking energy of the A. pernyi silk approaches that of spider dragline silk. The tensile properties, the optical orientation and the β-sheet structure contents of the silk fibers are remarkably increased by raising the spinning speeds up to 95 mm/s.

Nanoconfined crystallites toughen artificial silk

Spider dragline silk is of great interest to people for its outstanding mechanical properties including high toughness. Biomimetic spinning of spider silk has attracted peoples attention for decades. This paper reports a simple and cheap method to greatly toughen artificial silk by compositing with nanoanatase. The toughness of the artificial silk (breaking energy 93.1 ± 27.1 MJ m-3) exceeded that of silkworm silks. The hydrophilic nanomineral TiO2 with large specific surface area interacted severely with the fibroin matrix through coordination complexes (Ti-protein) and hydrogen bonds (O-H). Due to the interfacial interactions, regenerated silk fibroin (RSF)-TiO2 fibers showed higher α-helix/random coil content, lower β-sheet content, smaller crystallites and lower crystallinity than pure RSF fibers. A nanoconfined crystallite toughening mechanism was proposed to discuss the structure-property relationship of the hybrid fibers.

A comparative study of bamboo Lyocell fiber and other regenerated cellulose fibers 2nd ICC 2007, Tokyo, Japan, October 25–29, 2007

Abstract A new type of regenerated cellulose fiber can be made from bamboo cellulose by the Lyocell process. In this paper, the morphology and crystal structure of the bamboo Lyocell fiber was investigated by optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and wide angle X-ray diffractometry. Moreover, the mechanical properties, fibrillation behavior, moisture adsorption property, negative ion effect, and antibacterial capability of the bamboo Lyocell fiber were studied. The results showed that the bamboo Lyocell fiber proved to be similar to the structure and properties of wood Lyocell fiber, such as smooth surface, circular cross-section, high crystallinity, high tensile strength, low elongation at break, good moisture adsorption property, and easy fibrillation. Furthermore, the bamboo Lyocell fiber surpassed wood Lyocell fiber concerning negative ion effect and antibacterial property.

Recombinant spider silk from aqueous solutions via a bio-inspired microfluidic chip

Spiders achieve superior silk fibres by controlling the molecular assembly of silk proteins and the hierarchical structure of fibres. However, current wet-spinning process for recombinant spidroins oversimplifies the natural spinning process. Here, water-soluble recombinant spider dragline silk protein (with a low molecular weight of 47 kDa) was adopted to prepare aqueous spinning dope. Artificial spider silks were spun via microfluidic wet-spinning, using a continuous post-spin drawing process (WS-PSD). By mimicking the natural spinning apparatus, shearing and elongational sections were integrated in the microfluidic spinning chip to induce assembly, orientation of spidroins, and fibril structure formation. The additional post-spin drawing process following the wet-spinning section partially mimics the spinning process of natural spider silk and substantially contributes to the compact aggregation of microfibrils. Subsequent post-stretching further improves the hierarchical structure of the fibres, including the crystalline structure, orientation, and fibril melting. The tensile strength and elongation of post-treated fibres reached up to 510 MPa and 15%, respectively.