Structure and properties of silk fibroin-poly(vinyl alcohol) gel.
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.
Li
Mingzhong
M
Material Engineering Institute of Suzhou University, PR China. mzli@suda.edu.cn
Lu
Shenzhou
S
Wu
Zhengyu
Z
Tan
Ke
K
Minoura
Norihiko
N
Kuga
Shigenori
S
D005349:Fibroins / Q000737:chemistry*; D005615:Freezing; D005782:Gels; D011142:Polyvinyl Alcohol / Q000737:chemistry*; D016062:Porosity
D005782:Gels; D011142:Polyvinyl Alcohol; D005349:Fibroins