Fabrication of cellulose nanofiber/chitin whisker/silk sericin bionanocomposite sponges and characterizations of their physical and biological properties

Bionanocomposite sponge composing of cellulose nanofiber (CLNF), chitin whisker (CTW), and sericin (SRC) was developed. SRC—a glue-like protein found in silk cocoons—has several beneficial properties for wound care such as good skin moisturizing ability, antioxidant, and wound healing ability. However, pure SRC is generally difficult to be fabricated due to its weak structural properties. In the present study, this limitation of the SRC was overcome by using CLNF as a supporting material because of its nanofibrillar structure with high aspect ratio. CTW was chosen as another component due to its ability to promote tissue repair of wound. The CLNF/CTW/SRC sponges having different blend compositions were fabricated by the freeze-drying process and then treated with glutaraldehyde vapor to achieve structural stability. Effect of the blend composition on chemical structure and morphology of the bionanocomposite sponges were determined by Fourier transform infrared spectroscope (FTIR) and scanning electron microscope (SEM), respectively. Water absorption property was studied in terms of the blend composition and glutaraldehyde concentration. To clarify their possibility to be a potential wound care product, release profiles of the SRC from bionanocomposite sponges were investigated. Effects of the blend compositions, the presence of lysozyme, and NaCl concentration were observed.