Fabrication of wool nonwoven fabrics coated with sericin from different silkworm strains

초록

Silk, a naturally occurring biomaterial, is composed of fibroin and sericin. Sericin functions as a binder, holding together two fibroin strands within silk. Recently, sericin has been utilized to bind wool fibers, enabling the successful fabrication of hot-pressed wool nonwoven fabrics through its intrinsic binding property. Numerous silkworm strains are used for silk production, and the properties of fibroin and sericin vary depending on the strain. In the present study, silk sericin extracted from cocoons of different silkworm strains was coated onto wool fibers to prepare a series of wool-based nonwoven fabrics and to investigate the influence of silkworm strain on their properties. Although the crystallinity of sericin-coated wool webs differed markedly among strains, it became comparable after hot pressing, with the exception of strain N74. Measurements of moisture regain and contact angle indicated that the hydrophilicity of sericin-coated wool nonwoven fabrics was strongly influenced by the silkworm strain. Most nonwovens exhibited similar work of rupture, except those prepared with Kumokjam and Dodamnue sericin. These findings suggest that the hydrophilicity of sericin-coated wool nonwovens can be diversely tailored by selecting sericin from different silkworm strains, offering promising potential for cosmetic and biomedical applications.

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