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Renewable and degradable materials, formed using biopolymers as material precursors, are sought after in pharmaceutical, biomedical, and industrial fields. Silk-based biomaterials, primarily derived from the silk fibroin protein of the Bombyx mori (B. mori) silkworm, have advantageous mechanical properties, biocompatibility, and commercial availability. Recent efforts aim to expand the range of achievable silk-based biomaterial properties via alternative sources of silk proteins with different sequences and structures. These structural distinctions drive differences in physical and chemical properties of silk fibers, primarily due to the varying degree of crystallinity in the polymers. For the development of alternative silk-based materials, silk from Plodia interpunctella (P. interpunctella), a small agricultural pest that infests and damages food products via silk production, is evaluated. Early investigations have highlighted differences between P. interpunctella and B. mori silk fibroin proteins, however P. interpunctella silk still largely lacks characterization and optimization on both the silk fiber and bulk material level. This work evaluates the structural, thermal, mechanical, and cell-material properties of non-degummed and degummed P. interpunctella silk as a raw material for biomaterial fabrication and discusses the benefits and limitations of these proteins as new biopolymers. Observed properties are used to identify links between silk fibroin protein sequence and fiber function in addition to forming hypotheses in how P. interpunctella silk-based biomaterials will perform in comparison to other natural biopolymers. Future work aims to develop methods to process P. interpunctella silk into material formats, utilizing the material characteristics determined here as a baseline for shifts in material performance.
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Silk fibroin supraparticles created by the evaporation of colloidal Ouzo droplets
Due to its high biocompatibility and biodegradability, supraparticles made from silk fibroin—produced from Bombyx mori (B. mori) cocoons—can find various applications in biomedical fields. The evaporation of Ouzo droplets by not requiring energy nor a surfactant is an environmentally friendly, easy, and cost-effective strategy to fabricate three-dimensional supraparticles, tackling the so-called “coffee ring effect” associated with droplet evaporation. Silk fibroins are dissolved into quaternary droplets, comprised of ultrapure water, ethanol, trans-anethole oil, and formic acid. The Ouzo droplet is able to form an oil ring that facilitates the droplet contraction to create a three-dimensional supraparticle. Using the Ouzo effect to fabricate these particles from silk fibroin results in consistent macro-porous structures with a high porosity.
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- Award ID(s):
- 1911719
- PAR ID:
- 10597289
- Publisher / Repository:
- American Institute of Physics
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- AIP Advances
- Volume:
- 11
- Issue:
- 8
- ISSN:
- 2158-3226
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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