Structure And Properties Of Modified Silk Fibers Treated With Chitosan

Modified silk fibers are treated with chitosan, a kind of natural polymer material, in this subject. It provides theoretical base for developing functional B.mori silk fibers.Firstly, two different molecular weight of chitosan is available by H2O2 oxidative degradation. And then ordinary B.mori silk, slightly dissolved silk and calcium nitrate treated silk are separately treated with chitosan with different mocular weight and their morphology, aggregation structure, mechanical properties are also studied before and after treated with chitosan.Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X–ray diffraction, thermoanalysis are used to analyze aggregation structure, and Scanning electron microscope is used to study its morphology. The crosslinking between silk fibers and chitosan are also investigated. The results show that the weighting percentage of modified silk fibers are higher than ordinary B.mori silk after treated by chitosan, and it becomes higher and higher along with the calcium salt treatment time. The mechanical properties of modified silk fibers treated with chitosan are also improved. Crosslinking action between silk fibers and chitosan occures after treatment. The crystallinity and thermostability of modified silk fibers increased, and the conformation of silk fiber has the tread ofβ-sheet after treated with chitosan. At the same time, antibiotic activity of B.mori silk fibers treated by chitosan is also improved.The weighting gain is more evidence with the treatment of low molecular chitosan than the high mocular weight chitosan, and the mechanical properties have the same rule.