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Impact of calcium chloride concentration on structure and thermal property of Thai silk fibroin films

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Abstract

Regenerated Thai silk fibroin films were successfully fabricated using a novel calcium chloride–formic acid solution system. Different concentrations of calcium chloride (1.0, 1.5, 2.0, 3.0, 4.0, and 6.0 mass% in formic acid) could be embedded into the silk structure, and their glass transition temperature (T g), specific heat (C p), and thermal stability were studied and compared by the methods including scanning electron microscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), and step-scan DSC (SSDSC). The results showed that with the increase in the CaCl2 content during film fabrication, the ΔC p value of the final samples in the glass transition region gradually increased, while T g and the thermal stability decreased, suggesting that a more non-crystalline structure formed in the sample produced with a high concentration of CaCl2. These findings offer a new strategy for the fabrication of biocompatible silk materials with different structures, and it can be used for different silk fibroins for various biomaterial applications in the future.

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Acknowledgements

This study was supported by the College of Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province of China (15KJB150018), the Analysis Method and Technology Guide Project of Science and Technology Department of Jiangsu Province, China (JKYB 201401). XH is also supported by Rowan University Start-up Grants, NSF-MRI Program (DMR-1338014) and NSF Materials Eng. and Processing program (CMMI-1561966), USA.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center of Analysis and Testing, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing, 210023, Jiangsu, China

    Fang Wang, Hai-yang Yu & Qi-chun Liu

  2. School of Chemistry and Materials Science, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing, 210023, Jiangsu, China

    Hai-yang Yu, Zheng-Gui Gu, Ling Si & Qi-chun Liu

  3. Department of Physics and Astronomy, Rowan University, Glassboro, NJ, 08028, USA

    Xiao Hu

  4. Department of Biomedical Engineering, Rowan University, Glassboro, NJ, 08028, USA

    Xiao Hu

  5. Department of Biomedical and Translational Sciences, Rowan University, Glassboro, NJ, 08028, USA

    Xiao Hu

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  1. Fang Wang
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  2. Hai-yang Yu
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  3. Zheng-Gui Gu
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  4. Ling Si
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  5. Qi-chun Liu
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Correspondence to Fang Wang or Xiao Hu.

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Wang, F., Yu, Hy., Gu, ZG. et al. Impact of calcium chloride concentration on structure and thermal property of Thai silk fibroin films. J Therm Anal Calorim 130, 851–859 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10973-017-6388-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10973-017-6388-z

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