Structural study on methacrylamide-grafted Tussah silk fibroin fibres

Upon hydrolysis, both the untreated and grafted fibres underwent an enrichment in β-sheet conformation, due to the preferential removal of the unordered domains. As a result of the covalent interactions with silk fibroin, the polymer increased its stability towards alkaline hydrolysis, since its complete solubilization was avoided and the transformation of its CONH2 groups into COO⿿ and COOH was delayed. Vibrational spectroscopy proved to be a valid technique to investigate the mechanism and the effects of the hydrolytic attack, which are both fundamental to design new-generation silk-based materials.