Influence of Casting Temperature on the Near-Surface Structure and Wettability of Cast Silk Fibroin Films

DOI Web Site 7 Citations
  • Oleg N. Tretinnikov
    B. I. Stepanov Institute of Physics, National Academy of Sciences of Belarus, Minsk 220072, Belarus and Institute for Frontier Medical Sciences, Kyoto University, Kyoto 606-8507, Japan
  • Yasushi Tamada
    National Institute of Agrobiological Sciences, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8634, Japan

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Description

The near-surface structure and the wettability of silk fibroin films cast from aqueous solutions on hydrophobic polystyrene substrates at various temperatures is investigated by Fourier transform infrared attenuated total reflection spectroscopy (FTIR-ATR) and measurement of contact angle. The FTIR data reveal that the near-surface region of the films is enriched in random coil conformations of the protein at the expense of a reduced fraction of α-helix and β-sheet conformations. The relative random coil/β-sheet content shows a marked dependence on the casting temperature, displaying a minimum at 50 °C. The minimum occurs concurrently with a maximum in the wettability of film surfaces by polar liquids. In the lower wettability region, the film surfaces of this hydrophilic protein are hydrophobic, whereas in the enhanced wettability range they are slightly hydrophilic. The experimental data indicate that during formation of fibron films, α-helix and β-sheet structures are rejected by the interface because ...

Journal

  • Langmuir

    Langmuir 17 (23), 7406-7413, 2001-10-19

    American Chemical Society (ACS)

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