MORE | Fall 2023

Synthesis And Characterization Of Naturally-Derived Silk Fibroin Fibers And Films For The Design Of Nonmetallic Tunable And Tissue Responsive Fixation Devices In Regenerative Surgery

Polymers are widely used for bone tissue engineering but none have been used for bone fixation. Only silk fibroin (SF) is being considered due to its superior mechanical properties among polymers. In this study, cocoons produced by silkworms, were degummed, dissolved, dialyzed and centrifuged to recover SF after which its morphology, functional groups and mechanical properties were analyzed using Optical Microscopy, Fourier Transform Internal Reflection (FTIR) and an Instron test machine, respectively. After its confirmation, SF was used to cast thin films for enzymatic degradation studies to assess SF tunability in vivo for design of non-metallic, surgical    repair and regeneration.