Evaluation the manufacturing process of silk/gelatin electrospun membrane

Abstract

Electrospinning is common used in manufacturing ultrafine fibers from a polymer solution. With a high specific surface area, high porosity and good biocompatibility, the elecrospun membranes have extensive applications as biomaterials such as tissue scaffolds and for drug delivery. Silk fibroins (SF), gelatin (G) both have good biocompatibility and are non-toxic. And in previous literature, gelatin nanofiber can be successfully prepared by electrospinning, which was dissolved in formic acid. Tencel, which is extracted from wood pulp, is biodegradable, has a smooth fiber structure, can protect wounds and is irritation-free. Consequently, SF, G and Tencel are widely used in biomedical applications, such as for wound dressings and scaffolds for tissue engineering and so on. In this study, we discussed the applications of different shapes of electrospun membrane such as film, web. After that, the electrospun membrane was combined with Tencel nonwoven to fabricate composite nonwoven. Electrospinning of SF/ G was performed using formic acid as the spinning solvent. Parameters, such as electrical field (15-11 kV), spinning distance (15-7 cm), and volume ratio of SF and G, were analyzed to investigate their effects on electrospinnability and morphology of nanofiber membranes. The morphology of electrospun SF/ G nanofibers was investigated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Analytical demonstrate that the optimal electrospinning condition was fibers with an average diameter of 200-300 nm. © 2008 Trans Tech Publications, Switzerland.