Nanocellulose reinforced silkworm silk fibers for application to biodegradable polymers

Background: Though there are many patents on silk, patents on sea silk are rare. Sea silk is one of the most coveted materials in the world, and the technology to make sea silk is at an extremely high risk of extinction. Unlike spider dragline silk and silkworm silk, this natural silk has been forgotten in the academic commune for millennia, though it has many fascinating properties: high strength, remarkable adhesion, extreme lightweight, and others. Method: Here we report that mussel-derived silk fibers can be fabricated by electrospinning. Instead of extracting proteins from byssus, we directly use the protein solution from alive blue mussels, which are intensely commercially used. The protein solution and the polyvinyl alcohol solution are mixed together to produce mussel-based silk fibers. Results: The mussel-based silk fibers have many special properties like high mechanical strength, remarkable super-contraction and good wetting properties. Conclusion: The electrospinning mussel-based silk fibers have the potential for use as a replacement for the rarest sea silk and as a new bio-inspired material with multi-functions.

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Silkworm silk fibers vs PEEK reinforced rubber luminescent strain gauge and stretchable composites

Composites Science and Technology ◽

10.1016/j.compscitech.2017.12.031 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 156 ◽

pp. 254-261 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Luca Valentini ◽

Silvia Bittolo Bon ◽

Lorenzo Mussolin ◽

Nicola M. Pugno

Keyword(s):

Strain Gauge ◽

Silk Fibers ◽

Silkworm Silk

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Correlation between processing conditions, microstructure and mechanical behavior in regenerated silkworm silk fibers

Journal of Polymer Science Part B Polymer Physics ◽

10.1002/polb.23025 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 50 (7) ◽

pp. 455-465 ◽

Cited By ~ 27

Author(s):

Gustavo R. Plaza ◽

Paola Corsini ◽

Enrico Marsano ◽

José Pérez-Rigueiro ◽

Manuel Elices ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Mechanical Behavior ◽

Processing Conditions ◽

Silk Fibers ◽

Silkworm Silk

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Preparation of Braided Silk as a Tubular Tissue Engineering Scaffold

Advanced Materials Research ◽

10.4028/www.scientific.net/amr.175-176.95 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 175-176 ◽

pp. 95-99 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Hui Jing Zhao ◽

Ming Zhong Li

Keyword(s):

Mechanical Properties ◽

Tissue Engineering ◽

Unit Area ◽

Tissue Engineering Scaffold ◽

The Other ◽

The Novel ◽

Ethanol Treatment ◽

Silk Fibers ◽

Long Time ◽

Silkworm Silk

Silkworm silk has been recognized as a satisfactory biomaterial for long time due to its exceptional biocompatibility, biodegradability, mechanical properties etc. For example, silk fibers in the form of sutures have been used for centuries. The aim of this study is to discuss the potential usage of silk as the novel biomedical devices, such as blood vessels. In this study, cuit silks prepared from degummed raw silks were twisted as threads with four different yarn linear densities. A specific braiding machine was used to weave those threads into a tube. Subsequently two different groups of silk tubes were prepared. One was treated by ethanol and the other without. Thickness, porosity, mass per unit area of two groups of braided tubes were measured. Its mechanical properties were also studied. The influence of ethanol treatment and various yarn linear densities on its structural and mechanical properties was also studied. Results indicated that structural and mechanical properties of the tubes were significatly changed by the yarn linear densities and ethanol treatment. Conclusively, braided silk tube could be a potential blood vessel tissue engineering scaffold.

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Effect of Different Additives in Diets on Secondary Structure, Thermal and Mechanical Properties of Silkworm Silk

Materials ◽

10.3390/ma12010014 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 12 (1) ◽

pp. 14 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

Lan Cheng ◽

Huiming Huang ◽

Jingyou Zeng ◽

Zulan Liu ◽

Xiaoling Tong ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Mechanical Properties ◽

Amino Acid ◽

Large Scale ◽

Fiber Composites ◽

Metallic Ions ◽

Silk Fibers ◽

Random Coils ◽

Silkworm Silk ◽

Β Sheet

In this study, eight types of materials including nanoparticles (Cu and CaCO3), metallic ions (Ca2+ and Cu2+), and amino acid substances (serine, tyrosine, sericin amino acid, and fibroin amino acid) were used as additives in silkworm diets to obtain in-situ modified silk fiber composites. The results indicate that tyrosine and fibroin amino acids significantly increase potassium content in silk fibers and induce the transformation of α-helices and random coils to β-sheet structures, resulting in higher crystallinities and better mechanical properties. However, the other additives-modified silk fibers show a decrease in β-sheet contents and a slight increase or even decrease in tensile strengths. This finding provides a green and effective approach to produce mechanically enhanced silk fibers with high crystallinity on a large scale. Moreover, the modification mechanisms of these additives were discussed in this study, which could offer new insights into the design and regulation of modified fibers or composites with desirable properties and functions.

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Combining Living Microorganisms with Regenerated Silk Provides Nanofibril Based Thin Films with heat Responsive Wrinkled States for Smart Food Packaging

10.20944/preprints201806.0320.v1 ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

Luca Valentini ◽

Silvia Bittolo Bon ◽

Nicola Pugno

Keyword(s):

Thin Films ◽

Food Packaging ◽

Storage Conditions ◽

Food Storage ◽

Silk Fibers ◽

Co2 Diffusion ◽

Smart Coatings ◽

Coating Morphology ◽

High Thermal Expansion ◽

Silkworm Silk

Regenerated silk (RS) is a protein-based “biopolymer” that enables the design of new materials; here we sought to “bionic” the process of regenerated silk production by fermentation assisted method. Based on yeast’s fermentation, here we produced a living hybrid composite made of regenerated silk nanofibrils and a single-cell fungi, the Saccharomyces Cerevisiae yeast extract, by fermentation of such microorganisms at room temperature in the dissolution bath of silkworm silk fibers. The fermentation-based processing enhances the beta-sheet content of the RS, corresponding to a reduction in water permeability and CO2 diffusion through RS/yeast thin films enabling the fabrication of mechanically robust film that enhances the food storage durability. Finally a transfer print method, which consists of transferring RS and RS/yeast film layers onto self-adherent paraffin substrate, was used for the realization of heat – responsive wrinkles by exploiting the high thermal expansion of the paraffin substrate that regulates the applied strain, resulting in a switchable coating morphology from the wrinkle-free state to a wrinkled state if the food temperature overcomes a designed threshold. We envision that such efficient and smart coatings can be applied for the realization of smart packaging that through such temperature sensing mechanism can be used to control the food storage conditions.

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Observations of 3 nm Silk Nanofibrils Exfoliated from Natural Silkworm Silk Fibers

ACS Materials Letters ◽

10.1021/acsmaterialslett.9b00461 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 2 (2) ◽

pp. 153-160 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Qi Wang ◽

Shengjie Ling ◽

Quanzhou Yao ◽

Qunyang Li ◽

Debo Hu ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Silk Fibers ◽

Silkworm Silk

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Tensile Properties of Different Silkworm Silk Fibers

Advanced Materials Research ◽

10.4028/www.scientific.net/amr.47-50.1213 ◽

2008 ◽

Vol 47-50 ◽

pp. 1213-1216 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Hoi Yan Cheung ◽

Kin Tak Lau ◽

Yong Qing Zhao ◽

Jian Lu

Keyword(s):

Electron Microscopy ◽

Bombyx Mori ◽

Sectional Area ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Elongation At Break ◽

Silk Fibers ◽

Different Types ◽

Strain Data ◽

Silkworm Silk ◽

Scanning Electron

Mechanical properties of two different types of silkworm silk fibers under three conditions: (i) Bombyx mori; (ii) twisted Bombyx mori; and (iii) Tussah silk fibers were under investigations. The values of ultimate tensile strength, elongation at break and Young’s modulus were examined by performing tensile test on single bave. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was used to observe the morphologies of the two different types of silk fibers, and measure their general diameters so as to determine the cross-sectional area of the two different types of silk fibers and convert the experimental load-extension data into stress-strain data accordingly.

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