Properties of Silk Fibroin/Poly(vinyl alcohol) Blend Solutions and Peculiar Structure Found in Heterogeneous Blend Films*
✍ Scribed by Tanaka, T.; Suzuki, M.; Kuranuki, N.; Tanigami, T.; Yamaura, K.
- Publisher
- John Wiley and Sons
- Year
- 1997
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 411 KB
- Volume
- 42
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 0959-8103
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
✦ Synopsis
The gelation of aqueous poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) solution was accelerated by addition of a small amount of silk Ðbroin (SF). The peculiar structure found in heterogeneous SF/PVA blend Ðlms was analysed by polarizing microcopy, di †erential scanning calorimetry (DSC), infrared spectroscopy (IR), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The blend Ðlms (over 30 km thick) of SF/PVA (90/10 to 60/40 weight ratio) separated macroscopically into two phases : SF-rich and PVA-rich. SF-rich phases had many spherical particles (1È 25 km). In the PVA-rich phases, a fabric-like plain weave structure was found microscopically under a dark Ðeld. The SF-rich and PVA-rich phases were analysed by DSC, IR and SEM. The phase separation is also discussed.