Effects of electric field on the maximum electro spinning rate of silk fibroin solutions.
Owing to the excellent cyto compatibility of silk fibroin (SF) and the simple fabrication of nano fibrous webs, electro spun SF webs have attracted much research attention in numerous biomedical fields. Because the production rate of electro spun webs is strongly dependent on the electro spinning rate used, the electro spinning rate becomes more important. In the present study, to improve the electro spinning rate of SF solutions, various electric fields were applied during electro spinning of SF, and its effects on the maximum electro spinning rate of SF solution as well as diameters and molecular conformations of the electro spun SF fibers were examined. As the electric field was increased, the maximum electro spinning rate of the SF solution also increased. The maximum electro spinning rate of a 13% SF solution could be increased 12xby increasing the electric field from 0.5kV/cm (0.25mL/h) to 2.5kV/cm (3.0mL/h) The dependence of the fiber diameter on the present electric field was not significant when using less concentrated SF solutions (7 9% SF) On the other hand, at higher SF concentrations the electric field had a greater effect on the resulting fiber diameter. The electric field had a minimal effect of the molecular conformation and crystallinity index of the electro spun SF webs.
International journal of biological macromolecules