Dry-spinning of regenerated silk fibroin/sericin blend aqueous solutions

摘要

To biomimic the spinning process of Bombyx mori and the composition of nature silk, regenerated silk fibroin/sericin (RSF/SS) blend fibers were prepared by dry-spinning from aqueous solutions with different concentrations of Ca2+at various pH values. It was found that the addition of SS in the RSF aqueous solution significantly improved the spinnability and the viscosity of the blend dope. The composite fiber with a RSF/SS mass ratio of 75/25 showed a breaking stress up to 57.6 MPa, and relatively abundant β-sheet content. The concentration of Ca2+had limited effects on the viscosity of the blend dope and the diameters of corresponding fibers. The mechanical properties and the β-sheet content decreased with the addition of Ca2+. With the decrease of the pH of the blend dope, the diameter of the blend fiber became larger due to higher viscosity of the dope. However, the pH of the blend dope had no obvious effect on the mechanical properties and the β-sheet content of the fibers.