title: Effect of silk protein surfactant on silk degumming and its properties.
abstract: The silk protein surfactant (SPS) first used as a silk degumming agent in this study is an amino acid-type anionic surfactant that was synthesized using silk fibroin amino acids and lauroyl chloride. We studied it systematically in comparison with the traditional degumming methods such as sodium carbonate (Na2CO3) and neutral soap (NS). The experimental results showed that the sericin can be completely removed from the silk fibroin fiber after boiling the fibers three times for 30 min and using a bath ratio of 1:80 (g/mL) and a concentration of 0.2% SPS in an aqueous solution. The results of the tensile properties, thermal analysis, and SEM all show that SPS is similar to the NS, far superior to Na2CO3. In short, SPS may be used as an environmentally friendly silk degumming/refining agent in the silk textile industry and in the manufacture of silk floss quilts.
authors.affiliation: Silk Biotechnology Laboratory, School of Biology and Basic Medical Sciences, Soochow University, RM702-2303, No. 199, Renai Road, Dushuhu Higher Edu. Town, Suzhou 215123, PR China.
authors.forename: Fei
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Silk Biotechnology Laboratory, School of Biology and Basic Medical Sciences, Soochow University, RM702-2303, No. 199, Renai Road, Dushuhu Higher Edu. Town, Suzhou 215123, PR China.
authors.forename: Ting-Ting
authors.initials: TT
authors.lastname: Cao
authors.affiliation: Silk Biotechnology Laboratory, School of Biology and Basic Medical Sciences, Soochow University, RM702-2303, No. 199, Renai Road, Dushuhu Higher Edu. Town, Suzhou 215123, PR China. Electronic address: sericult@suda.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Yu-Qing
authors.initials: YQ
authors.lastname: Zhang
mesh_terms: D002254:Carbonates / Q000737:chemistry; D005349:Fibroins / Q000737:chemistry*; D047030:Sericins / Q000737:chemistry; D047011:Silk / Q000737:chemistry*; D013501:Surface-Active Agents / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D002254:Carbonates; D047030:Sericins; D047011:Silk; D013501:Surface-Active Agents; C005686:sodium carbonate; D005349:Fibroins
keywords: Degumming; Fibroin; Mechanical properties; Silk protein; Surfactants