title: Facile fabrication of the porous three-dimensional regenerated silk fibroin scaffolds.
abstract: In the present work, we report a new facile method to fabricate porous three-dimensional regenerated silk fibroin (RSF) scaffolds through n-butanol- and freezing-induced conformation transition and phase separation. The effects of RSF concentration, freezing temperature and n-butanol addition on the microstructure, the secondary structures of silk fibroin and apparent mechanical properties of the RSF scaffolds were investigated by SEM, (13)C CP-MAS NMR spectra and mechanical testing, respectively. By adjusting the RSF concentration and n-butanol addition, the pore size of the scaffold could be controlled in the range from of 10 μm to 350 μm with 84%-98% of porosity. The tensile strength of the wet scaffold reached the maximum of 755.2±33.6 kPa when the concentration of RSF solution was increased to 15% w/w. Moreover, post-treatment with ethanol further induced conformation transition of RSF from random coil or helix to β-sheet. The porous scaffolds prepared by this facile and energy-saving method with good biocompatibility will have great potential for application in tissue engineering.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Molecular Engineering of Polymers, Advanced Materials Laboratory, Department of Macromolecular Science, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Zhengbing
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Cao
authors.forename: Jianchuan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wen
authors.forename: Jinrong
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Yao
authors.forename: Xin
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Yusu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ni
authors.forename: Zhengzhong
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Shao
mesh_terms: D020001:1-Butanol / Q000737:chemistry; D000818:Animals; D012831:Bombyx / Q000378:metabolism; D055119:Elastic Modulus; D000431:Ethanol / Q000737:chemistry; D005349:Fibroins / Q000737:chemistry*; D005615:Freezing; D016062:Porosity; D017433:Protein Structure, Secondary; D013718:Tensile Strength; D023822:Tissue Engineering
chemical_list: D000431:Ethanol; D020001:1-Butanol; D005349:Fibroins