Design and fabrication of nanofibrous scaffolds should mimic the native extracellular matrix. This study is aimed at investigating electrospinning of polycaprolactone (PCL) blended with chitosan-gelatin complex. The morphologies were observed from scanning electron microscope. As-spun blended mats had thinner fibers than pure PCL. X-ray diffraction was used to analyze the degree of crystallinity. The intensity at two peaks at 2θof 21° and 23.5° gradually decreased with the percentage of chitosan-gelatin complex increasing. Moreover, incorporation of the complex could obviously improve the hydrophilicity of as-spun blended mats. Mechanical properties of as-spun nanofibrous mats were also tested. The elongation at break of fibrous mats increased with the PCL content increasing and the ultimate tensile strength varied with different weight ratios. The as-spun mats had higher tensile strength when the weight ratio of PCL to CS-Gel was 75/25 compared to pure PCL. Both as-spun PCL scaffolds and PCL/CS-Gel scaffolds supported the proliferation of porcine iliac endothelial cells, and PCL/CS-Gel had better cell viability than pure PCL. Therefore, electrospun PCL/Chitosan-gelatin nanofibrous mats with weight ratio of 75/25 have better hydrophilicity mechanical properties, and cell proliferation and thus would be a promising candidate for tissue engineering scaffolds.

In order to recycle the waste silk resource effectively, the biodegradable composite consisting of PBS matrix and pure silk paper was prepared by hot compression molding. Beating treatment was adopted to modify silk fibroin and enhance the composite, and the corresponding mechanical properties and morphologies were studied in detail. The results showed that beating treatment could realize the fibrillation of fibroin and improve the tensile strength of silk paper, and proper beating treatment to fibroin could also improve the mechanical properties of silk paper reinforced PBS composite. The tensile, flexural and impact resistance properties of this green composite were improved remarkably with increasing fiber content within 40 wt%. Especially the impact resistance was remarkably improved 154% at 40 wt% fiber content compared with PBS control.

Waste silk fiber is an important by-product in silk industry. In order to perform the efficient recycling of this waste silk resource, the papermaking technology was adopted, and silk/bamboo paper was produced. Beating treatment of fibers and chemical modification of silk fibroin fiber by epoxy reagent were carried out. The study of mechanical property, morphology and FT-IR spectrum showed that beating treatment could realize fibrillation of fibroin fibers effectively, however the strength of composite papers was rather weak. Proper beating treatment and modification still need to improve the mechanical property of the silk/bamboo hybrid paper.

The aim of this study was to investigate the cross-linked poly(vinyl alcohol) nanofibrous mats treated by flourinated alkane in supercritical carbon dioxide medium. The surface morphology and chemical structure of electrospun mats were analyzed by scanning electron microscopy and Fourier transform infrared. The results showed that the treated mats could maintain their integrity and fibrous morphology as well as their porous structure after being treated. However, the wettability was changed greatly, the average contact angle of treated nanofibrous mats increased from its original value of 28? to 134?, revealing that the treated mats had good water repellent properties. The paper concluded that the hydrophobic and breathable mats with porous structure might be an excellent candidate for food package materials.

Journal of Fiber Science and Technology (JFST)