부산대학교 도서관

Refrigeration is a common method for preserving reconstituted silk fibroin (RSF) aqueous solutions during electrospinning experiments, but the effects of preservation time at 4 °C are still not well documented. In this work, we explore its effects on the viscosity, refractive index, and density values of RSF solutions at 19 wt%. Also, extensive characterization of the mechanical properties and fiber diameters of the resulting electrospun meshes are provided. Significant differences were found in elongation, Young's modulus, and ultimate strength at different experimental times, and an increase in the viscosity values of the RSF solutions was detected for the first 12 days of storage. These solutions exhibited a continuous, slow gelation throughout the time in storage at 4 °C, and this phenomenon improved the performance of electrospinning after a certain period of refrigeration. The protocol used reduces the production cost of SF fiber-based scaffolds and avoids the use of harsh solvents and additives which could otherwise limit their use in potential biomedical applications. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s10853-015-9032-y) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
Author(s): Salvador D. Aznar-Cervantes[sup.1] , A. Abel Lozano-Perez[sup.1] , Mercedes Garcia Montalban[sup.2] , Gloria Villora[sup.2] , Daniel Vicente-Cervantes[sup.1] , Jose L. Cenis[sup.1] Author Affiliations: (1) Department of Biotechnology, Instituto Murciano [...]