title: Structure and properties of silk fibroin-poly(vinyl alcohol) gel.
abstract: A series of porous silk fibroin-poly(vinyl alcohol) blend gels were prepared from corresponding aqueous mixtures by freeze- or air-drying, and their structure and mechanical properties were examined. The air-dried gels had higher crystallinity and much greater strengths than the freeze-dried gels, and therefore are suitable for mechanical uses. The freeze-dried gels had characteristic porous structure potentially useful as cell culture substrate. Its structure could be systematically varied by changing freezing temperature and freeze-thaw pretreatments before drying.
authors.affiliation: Material Engineering Institute of Suzhou University, PR China. mzli@suda.edu.cn
authors.forename: Mingzhong
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Shenzhou
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.forename: Zhengyu
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: Ke
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Tan
authors.forename: Norihiko
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Minoura
authors.forename: Shigenori
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kuga
mesh_terms: D005349:Fibroins / Q000737:chemistry*; D005615:Freezing; D005782:Gels; D011142:Polyvinyl Alcohol / Q000737:chemistry*; D016062:Porosity
chemical_list: D005782:Gels; D011142:Polyvinyl Alcohol; D005349:Fibroins