Electrospinning of silk fibroin from all aqueous solution at low concentration

Non-woven mats of Bombyx mori silk fibroin were fabricated using electrospinning with an all aqueous solution at < 10 wt% without any co-existing water soluble polymer such as PEO. The fibroin aqueous solution electrospinnability was affected by the fibroin molecular weight and the spinning solution pH. Hot-water treatment without any alkaline reagent or soap produced higher molecular weight fibroin than the typical degumming process did. The higher molecular weight fibroin provided good electrospinnability. Results show that the basic solution (pH 10-11) is important for electrospinning at low concentrations of 5 wt%. Evaluation of structural and mechanical properties of the non-woven mat fabricated with water solvent revealed that it is safe for use in the human body. It is anticipated for wider use in medical materials such as cellular scaffolds for tissue engineering.