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One-step preparation and characterization of silk nano- and microspheres

Polymer Journal volume 52, pages 1395–1400 (2020)Cite this article

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Abstract

The present study described a new method with one step to fabricate silk fibroin nano- and microspheres, with the size of spheres and crystalline structure being controllable during processing. Polyethylene glycol, a type of synthetic polymer that is widely used in the pharmaceutical industry as a formulation excipient, was utilized to induce silk fibroin to self-assemble into nano- and microspheres. The addition of a certain amount of salt in the blending solution with subsequent titration into ethanol could improve the size dispersion, yield, and crystalline β-sheet structure (silk II) compared to those prepared without salt addition during preparation. Silk microspheres prepared in the presence of salts were less porous and more homogeneous in size than those prepared in the absence of salts.

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Acknowledgements

The study was financially supported by the Natural Science Foundation of China grant (Project no. 51903019), the Nature Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province (Grant no. BK 20181038), and the Natural Science Foundation of Colleges in Jiangsu Province (Project no. 19KJB430006).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Textile, Garment and Design, Changshu Institute of Technology, Suzhou, 215500, China

    Jianbing Wu, Lixiang Zhang, Leigen Liu, Wei Wang, Yinyin Sun & Jin Tao

  2. National Engineering Laboratory for Modern Silk, College of Textile and Clothing Engineering, Soochow University, Suzhou, 215123, China

    Wenjun Guo, Yongfeng Wang & Xiaoqin Wang

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  1. Jianbing Wu
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  6. Wei Wang
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Correspondence to Xiaoqin Wang.

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Wu, J., Guo, W., Zhang, L. et al. One-step preparation and characterization of silk nano- and microspheres. Polym J 52, 1395–1400 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41428-020-0392-z

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