We have shown that protic ionic liquids, pILs, are effective coagulation solvents for the regenerated of silk fibroin, RSF. We show that the choice of pIL has a dramatic effect on the composition of the RSF. Additionally the use of pILs as the coagulator eliminates the need for volatile organic solvents in silk processing.

Silk fibroin (SF) is a protein with bulky hydrophobic domains and can be easily purified as sericin-free silk-based biomaterial. Silk fibroin modified chitosan nanoparticle (SF-CSNP), a biocompatible material, has been widely used as a potential drug delivery system. Our current investigation studied the bio-effects of the SF-CSNP uptake by liver cells. In this experiment, the characterizations...

Chitosan biopolymer represents an attractive alternative to other bio materials because of its significant physico– chemical behaviours. In order to improve chitosan’s performance, chemical modification has been carried out. Chemical modification that lead to the formation of chitosan derivatives, grafted chitosan and chitosan composites have gained much attention, extensively studied and widel...

In order to use a simple and ecofriendly method to prepare porous silk scaffolds, aqueous silk fibroin solution (ASF) was extracted from silk gland of 7-day-old fifth instar larvae of Bombyx mori (B. mori). SDS-page analysis indicated that the obtained fibroin had a molecular weight higher than 200 kDa. The fabrication of porous scaffolds from ASF was achieved by using the freeze-drying method....

A novel design of silk-based scaffold is developed using a custom-made winding machine, with fiber alignment resembling the anatomical criss-cross lamellar fibrous orientation features of the annulus fibrosus of the intervertebral disc. Crosslinking of silk fibroin fibers with chondroitin sulphate (CS) was introduced to impart superior biological functionality. The scaffolds, with or without CS...

The titanium and its alloys are used as orthopedic dental implants due to their mechanical and bio-inert properties. The bare metal implants are not the ultimate answer for better osteogenesis and implant integration. Physical and chemical modifications are carried out to achieve the goal of improved adhesion and differentiation of the osteoblast. In this work, the silk fibroins from both mulbe...

Low energy plasma has been introduced to treat the surface of Thai silk fibroin which should be enhanced for cell adhesion due to its native hydrophobic surface. Plasma surface treatment could introduce desirable hydrophilic functionalities on the surface without using any chemicals. In this work, nitrogen glow discharge plasma was generated by a low energy AC50Hz power supply system. The plasm...

Biocompatible materials have received increased interest due to their combination of unique physical, chemical, and biological properties and their potential in the fields of drug delivery, medical treatments, and other biological applications. Among the natural polymers, silkworm silk fibroin has been of interest for its use in textiles but also in consumer products such as cosmetic creams, lo...

Biological self-assembly is a process in which building blocks autonomously organize to form stable supermolecules of higher order and complexity through domination of weak, noncovalent interactions. For silk protein, the effect of high incubating temperature on the induction of secondary structure and self-assembly was well investigated. However, the effect of freezing and thawing on silk solu...

The silk road: By employing silk fibroin as a binder between graphene oxide films and aluminum foil for a facile, highly localized reduction process, conductive paper is reinvented. The flexible, robust biographene papers have high toughness and electrical conductivity. This electrochemical written-in approach is readily applicable for the fabrication of conductive patterned papers with complex...