State Key Laboratory of Molecular Engineering of Polymers, Department of Macromolecular Science, Shanghai Stomatological Hospital & School of Stomatology, Laboratory of Advanced Materials, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433, People's Republic of China.
ACS Appl Bio Mater. 2022 Jun 20;5(6):3086-3094. doi: 10.1021/acsabm.2c00354. Epub 2022 May 24.
Silk fibroin is a natural polymer that has various material forms and wide applications. Hydrogel is one of the most attractive silk materials because of its hydrophilicity, biocompatibility, and flexibility. However, its applications are still quite limited because they have a complicated preparation process and/or low mechanical strength. Herein, a simple way to prepare tough silk fibroin hydrogels via a solvent-exchange method is introduced. The degummed silk fiber was directly dissolved in a calcium chloride/formic acid solution and then water was used to replace the solvent. The silk fibroin hydrogel that was obtained using this facile method exhibited even better mechanical properties than most silk fibroin hydrogels that have been reported in the literature. Also, the silk fibroin hydrogel maintained biocompatibility that was as good as that prepared via other methods. Finally, the possibility of using this regenerated silk fibroin hydrogel as a multi-functional platform (such as a catalyst carrier, photothermal agent, and underwater adhesive) has been discussed. Therefore, such a natural, sustainable, robust, and good biocompatible silk fibroin hydrogel that is prepared by an improved method may have great potential for further applications.
丝素蛋白是一种天然高分子，具有多种材料形式和广泛的应用。水凝胶是最具吸引力的丝素材料之一，因为它具有亲水性、生物相容性和柔韧性。然而，由于其制备工艺复杂和/或机械强度低，其应用仍然相当有限。本文介绍了一种通过溶剂交换法制备坚韧丝素蛋白水凝胶的简单方法。脱胶丝纤维直接溶解在氯化钙/甲酸溶液中，然后用水代替溶剂。通过这种简单的方法获得的丝素蛋白水凝胶的机械性能甚至优于文献中报道的大多数丝素蛋白水凝胶。此外，丝素蛋白水凝胶保持了与其他方法制备的水凝胶一样好的生物相容性。最后，讨论了将这种再生丝素蛋白水凝胶用作多功能平台（如催化剂载体、光热剂和水下粘合剂）的可能性。因此，这种通过改进方法制备的天然、可持续、坚固和良好生物相容性的丝素蛋白水凝胶可能具有很大的应用潜力。
