Bioinspired Silk Fiber Spinning System via Automated Track-Drawing

Author(s):  
Dave Jao ◽  
Xiao Hu ◽  
Vince Beachley
Keyword(s):  
Author(s):  
Weiping Zhang ◽  
Samual P. Gido ◽  
Wayne S. Muller ◽  
Stephen A. Fossey ◽  
David L. Kaplan

The high performance tensile properties of silkworm (Bombyx mori) silk fiber has resulted in a long standing interest in the semicrystalline morphology of this material. The properties of silk fiber depend not only on the chemical composition (primary protein structure) but also on the fiber spinning conditions present in the silk gland which induce the formation of a (β-sheet based crystalline morphology (secondary protein structure). Knowledge of the silk structure is essential for understanding how the natural spinning processes results in such excellent material properties, but surprisingly few experimental results are available concerning the detailed structures of silk proteins. Two β-sheet based silk fibroin crystalline structures (e.g. silk I and silk II) have been studied by many authors, but the silk I structure remains largely uncharacterized. Here we report results from thin silk films prepared by the Langmuir-Blodgett (LB) technique which display a new silk fibroin structure with a threefold helical chain conformation.


2018 ◽  
Vol 19 (6) ◽  
pp. 2227-2237 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kenjiro Yazawa ◽  
Ali D. Malay ◽  
Nao Ifuku ◽  
Takaoki Ishii ◽  
Hiroyasu Masunaga ◽  
...  

2020 ◽  
Vol 15 ◽  
pp. 155892502097575
Author(s):  
Huiling Wang ◽  
Bin Zhou

Facial masks are beauty products which composed of a facial mask paper and beauty solution. Silk contains the amino acid structure closest to the human skin, and has the skin-friendly, cosmetic and antibacterial functions, but the common method for making nonwoven facial mask paper is not suitable for silk. In this paper, the silkworm’s spinning path is intervened manually to obtain a smart silk facial mask paper (SMC) of controllable thickness, so that the sericin on the silk fiber is well preserved. In the experiment where the SMC is compared with the nonwoven 384-cuprammonium rayon facial mask paper (CRMC) which is the most widely used in the market, it is found that the ways of forming the two facial mask paper are completely different, and therefore the morphologies under SEM are obviously different. The thickness of the SMC is 0.183 mm and the areal weight of it is 38.0 g/m2. It is very close to the CRMC (0.187 mm, 38.4 g/m2). The porosity of the SMC is 84.0%, which is slightly lower than that of the CRMC (86.3%), but its pores are well distributed. Compared with the CRMC, the smart SMC has higher dry and wet strength, lower elongation, slightly lower air permeability and liquid entrainment rate, and better antibacterial performance.


Antibiotics ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 248
Author(s):  
Marta O. Teixeira ◽  
Joana C. Antunes ◽  
Helena P. Felgueiras

In the last decades, much research has been done to fasten wound healing and target-direct drug delivery. Hydrogel-based scaffolds have been a recurrent solution in both cases, with some reaching already the market, even though their mechanical stability remains a challenge. To overcome this limitation, reinforcement of hydrogels with fibers has been explored. The structural resemblance of fiber–hydrogel composites to natural tissues has been a driving force for the optimization and exploration of these systems in biomedicine. Indeed, the combination of hydrogel-forming techniques and fiber spinning approaches has been crucial in the development of scaffolding systems with improved mechanical strength and medicinal properties. In this review, a comprehensive overview of the recently developed fiber–hydrogel composite strategies for wound healing and drug delivery is provided. The methodologies employed in fiber and hydrogel formation are also highlighted, together with the most compatible polymer combinations, as well as drug incorporation approaches creating stimuli-sensitive and triggered drug release towards an enhanced host response.


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