Hierarchical Silk Fibroin/Poly(L-lactic acid) Porous Fibrous Membrane and its Applications

  • Jun Song

Student thesis: Phd

Abstract

Fibres are of great importance to various applications in human's work and lifetime. Electrospinning is a facile and versatile technique to produce ultrafine fibres that range from macro to nano scales. Hierarchical porous structures could increase interactive interfaces between ultrafine fibres and their environments. However, the gaps between by controlling fibre morphology and elevating surface area have not been filled yet. In this project, a poly(L-lactic acid) (PLLA) hierarchical porous fibrous membrane was designed and developed via an electrospinning and post-treatment strategy. The vapour induced phase separation and solvent induced re-crystallization mechanisms were proposed to explain the generation of porous nano fibres with ultra-high surface area and good interconnectivity based the comprehensive characterizations. Ultrafine particulate aerosols less than 100 nm diffuse randomly in the air and are hazardous to the environment and human health. However, these small particulate matters are difficult to remove from the air. Due to the elevated specific surface area and highly porous surface morphology, hierarchical porous PLLA fibrous membrane is more possible to capture and intercept fine aerosol particles. Thus, hierarchical porous fibrous membrane was applied as an ultrafine particulate aerosols filter. The filtration performance and pressure drop of the membrane were characterized and its quality factor was calculated. Pure PLLA porous fibres still face the disadvantages including relatively brittle mechanical and hydrophobic properties. Silk fibroin was used to coating on the surface of porous PLLA fibres successfully. Good cell morphology was observed via a multiphoton laser confocal microscope on electrospun PLLA/SF fibrous membranes. The membrane then rolled up towards vascular scaffolds.
Date of Award1 Aug 2022
Original languageEnglish
Awarding Institution
  • The University of Manchester
SupervisorHugh Gong (Supervisor) & Jiashen Li (Supervisor)

Keywords

  • porous
  • meso pores
  • scaffold
  • aerosol
  • biomaterial
  • poly(L-lactic acid)
  • silk fibroin
  • fiber
  • fibre
  • electrospinning

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