Structures and properties of silk fibroin/CaSiO_3 composite nanofibers

The silk fibroin(SF)/CaSiO3(CS) composite nanofiber was fabricated via electrospinning.XRD and FT-IR analysis showed that Silk II governed the structure of the SF/CS composite nanofiber.It has a diameter of 200-400 nm and porosity of about 78%.Water contact angle experiment indicated that it has better hydrophilicity than the pure SF nanofiber.The in vitro bioactivities and degradability of SF/CS nanofiber were investigated using experiments of soaking in simulated body fluid(SBF) and respectively Tris-buffer.After being soaked in SBF for 7 days,the surfaces of the composite nanofibers with 20% CaSiO3 were covered with a hydrocarbonate apatite layer.The degradability of this sample reached 42.4% after being soaked in Tris-buffer for 12 weeks,showing its good bioactivity and degradability.This composite SF/CS nanofiber provides a promising opportunity for use as bioactive bone tissue repair material.