Interfacial bonding and degumming effects on silk fibre/polymer biocomposites

• Published in: Composites. Part B, Engineering Engineering, 2012-10, Vol.43 (7), p.2801-2812
• Main Authors: Ho, Mei-po, Wang, Hao, Lau, Kin-tak, Lee, Joong-hee, Hui, David
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: A. Natural fibre composites; Applied sciences; B. Mechanical properties; biocomposites; biodegradability; biopolymers; Composites; D. Surface analysis; degumming; engineering; Exact sciences and technology; Forms of application and semi-finished materials; hydrophilicity; Laminates; Physicochemistry of polymers; Polymer industry, paints, wood; prostheses; silk; Technology of polymers; wettability
• ISSN: 1359-8368; 1879-1069
• DOI: 10.1016/j.compositesb.2012.04.042

Silk fibre has been popularly used for bio-medical engineering and surgically-operational applications for centuries because of its biocompatible and bioresorbable properties. Using silk fibre as reinforcement for bio-polymers could enhance the stiffness of scaffoldings and bone implants. However, raw silk fibre consists of silk fibroin that is bound together by a hydrophilic glued-liked protein layer called “sericin”. Degumming is a surface modification process for sericin removal which allows a wide control of the silk fibre’s properties, making the silk fibre possible to be properly used for the development and production of novel bio-composites with specific mechanical and biodegradable properties. Some critical issues such as wettability, bonding efficiency and biodegradability at the fibre/matrix interface are of interesting topics in the study of the degumming process. Therefore, it is a need to detailedly study the effect on different degumming processes to the properties of the silk fibre for real-life applications.