Fabrication of Aurelia sp. jellyfish collagen-based fibrous sheet via electrophoretically assisted deposition

Abstract

The combination of collagens extracted from mammal skin and whole body of Aurelia sp. significantly enhanced wound healing. However, the formation of standalone materials using Aurelia collagen through pH neutralization and appropriate salt concentration adjustment have not been previously demonstrated. This study, for the first, presents formation of standalone Aurelia collagen sheets with fibrous structures from collagen dissolved in deionized water using the electrophoretically assisted deposition (EAD) technique. The effects of deposition parameters, including collagen concentration, electric field strength, and deposition time, on the deposition yield were investigated and was found to adhere to the Hamaker relationship. Microstructural analysis revealed that the sheet comprised stacked lamellar collagen layers, lacking the D–periodic pattern characteristic of mammalian collagen fibrils. The tensile strength and elastic modulus of the sheets under dry conditions were approximately 5 MPa and 500 kPa, respectively, suggesting that the dry sheets possess tensile strength comparable to mammalian collagen sheets but exhibit a more glass–like mechanical behaviour. These findings provide proof of concept that EAD can be used to form standalone, pure Aurelia collagen fibrous sheets.