Preparation and characterization of chitin whisker-reinforced silk fibroin nanocomposite sponges

For highly porous form such as sponges or scaffolds, the induction of the β-sheet formation of silk fibroin to make the water-stable materials usually results in their high shrinkage leading to a difficulty in controlling shape and size of materials. Thus, the objective of this study was to improve dimensional stability of silk fibroin sponge by incorporating chitin whiskers as nanofiller. Chitin whiskers exhibited the average length and width of 427 and 43 nm, respectively. Nanocomposite sponges at chitin whiskers to silk fibroin weight ratio (C/S ratio) of 0, 1/8, 2/8, or 4/8 were prepared by using a freeze-drying technique. The dispersion of chitin whiskers embedded in the silk fibroin matrix was found to be homogeneous. The presence of chitin whiskers embedded into silk fibroin sponge not only improved its dimensional stability but also enhanced its compression strength. Regardless of the chitin whisker content, SEM micrographs showed that all samples possessed an interconnected pore network with an average pore size of 150 μm. To investigate the feasibility of the nanocomposites for tissue engineering applications, L929 cells were seeded onto their surfaces, the results indicated that silk fibroin sponges both with and without chitin whiskers were cytocompatible. Moreover, when compared to the neat silk fibroin sponge, the incorporation of chitin whiskers into the silk fibroin matrix was found to promote cell spreading.