title: Influence factors analysis on the formation of silk I structure.
abstract: Regenerated silk fibroin aqueous solution was used to study the crystalline structure of Bombyx mori silk fibroin in vitro. By controlling environmental conditions and concentration of silk fibroin solution, it provided a means for the direct preparing silk I structure and understanding the details of silk fibroin molecules interactions in formation process. In this study, silk fibroin molecules were assembled to form random coil at low concentration of solution and then, as the concentration increases, were converted to silk I at 55% relative humidity (RH). At the same time, the structure of silk fibroin forming below 45 °C was mostly in silk I. A partial ternary phase diagram of temperature-humidity-concentration was constructed based on the results. The results showed silk I structure could be controlled by adjusting the external environmental conditions. The enhanced control over silk I structure, as embodied in phase diagram, could potentially be utilized to understand the molecular chain conformation of silk I in further research work.
authors: The College of Textiles & Fashion, Qingdao University, Qingdao 266071, China; National Engineering Laboratory for Modern Silk, College of Textile and Clothing Engineering, Soochow University, Suzhou 215123, China. Electronic address: jinfa.ming@gmail.com.
authors: Jinfa
authors: J
authors: Ming
authors: The College of Textiles & Fashion, Qingdao University, Qingdao 266071, China. Electronic address: mingjinfa@qdu.edu.cn.
authors: Fukui
authors: F
authors: Pan
authors: National Engineering Laboratory for Modern Silk, College of Textile and Clothing Engineering, Soochow University, Suzhou 215123, China. Electronic address: bqzuo@suda.edu.cn.
authors: Baoqi
authors: B
authors: Zuo
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D012831:Bombyx / Q000737:chemistry; D003890:Desiccation; D005349:Fibroins / Q000737:chemistry; D044367:Phase Transition; D011487:Protein Conformation; D047011:Silk / Q000737:chemistry*; D013696:Temperature; D013997:Time Factors; D014961:X-Ray Diffraction
chemical_list: D047011:Silk; D005349:Fibroins
keywords: Silk I; Silk fibroin; Temperature–concentration–humidity