A Study On The Morphology Of Electrospun Bombyx Mori Fibers And The Secondary Structure Of Regenerated Silk Fibroin

The biocompatibility, durability, and strength, among others are some properties that render silk fibers of several uses such as bio medical (like sutures), pharmaceutical and protective applications. Hence, for such applications silk maybe reproduced into film, gel powder, and most recently, nanofibers. Bombyx mori is the most common specie of silkworms, yielding fibers of triangular-shaped cross-section with diameter10-20μm. The regeneration process is aimed at giving fibroin with similar structure but with better properties relevant to intended applications. Among others, the degradation of fibroin, and loss of secondary structural conformation during regeneration was a hypothesized shortcoming. The first objective of this research was to successfully dissolve B. mori silk fibers and then reclaim it into gel and film forms. The second task was to dissolve the regenerated films and consequently electrospin into nano fibers. Structural studies on the morphology and the secondary crystallinity were the final rationale for the study, to assess the structural conformational changes from the original fibers. Two different solvents were used as a control measure to study consistency. The silk fibers were dissolved and regenerated successfully using aqueous LiBr and a ternary system of CaCl2:Water:MethanoL Electro spinning was done in formic acid, and the morphology of the resulting fibers was assessed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The crystalline secondary structure of regenerated Bombyx mori fibroin (films and nanofibers) was evaluated using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and Wide angle x-ray diffraction (WAXD). Results showed that untreated regenerated fibroin in film and nanofibers is generally amorphous. It was also established that the regeneration process has a remarkable effect on the molecular weight and crystallinity of fibroin.