Preparation and Characterization of the Blended Film from Silk Fibroin and Regenerated Cellulose Fiber Residue

This research studied the preparation of the blended film from Bombyx mori silk fibroin with the regenerated cellulose obtained from rayon fiber residue, the industrial waste fiber. The β-sheet structure of silk fibroin was observed while the regenerated cellulose possessed cellulose II crystalline form. The infrared spectra of the blends showed changes in shape and intensity of IR absorption frequency characteristics in the region of 3500-3300 cm-1 as compared with those of the starting materials, pure silk fibroin and cellulose. This indicates the occurrence of the intermolecular interactions between the –OH groups of cellulose and silk fibroin by forming hydrogen bond. The tensile properties of the blends with cellulose content lower than 50 % could not be measured due to the weakness of the prepared film. The stronger and more flexible film was obtained with increasing the regenerated cellulose content. The study on the effect of NaCl and CaCl2 salt addition aiming to establish a porous structure to the blends was also investigated.