Abstract
Structural and thermal characteristics of silk fibroin/poly(2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate)(PHEMA) blend films were investigated using FTIR, X-ray diffractometer, differential scanning calorimeter, thermogravimeter and scanning electron microscope. FTIR spectra showed that the conformation of silk fibroin prepared by dissolving in formic acid was $\beta$-sheet, which did not affected by blending with PHEMA. The X-ray diffraction patterns also showed that individual crystalline structure of silk fibroin and PHEMA was not affected for the blend films. The initial thermal decomposition temperature of silk fibroin/PHEMA blend film tends to be higher than either of silk fkbroin or PHEMA. Thermal stability of both polymers, more notably PHEMA, can be improved by blending two components. As a result of SEM observation, the phases separation for silk fibroin/PHEMA blend films occured regardless of blend ratio ; continuous and dispersed phase were silk fibroin and PHEMA component, respectively.
