Silk Fibroin protein, owing to its excellent film forming capacity and Bio-compatibility is potentially useful as a Bio-material. However films of regenerated silk Fibroin are usually brittle and weak, which prevents its wide application. In the present Study, flexible silk Fibroin films were by prepared by incorporating Propylene Glycol.Properties such as low toxicity, low migration and well documented use of Glycols as a plasticizer with other bio-polymer prompted inclusion of Propylene Glycol in silk Fibroin solution to assess its impact on silk behaviour. To study the effect of plasticizer concentration on its physical and mechanical properties Propylene Glycol was used in 3 different concentrations 0.5,1 & 3 % (w/v).These films exhibited modified mechanical properties when compared to pure silk Fibroin films. The increase in elongation at break and further decrease in Glass Transition Temperature showed that Propylene Glycol is acting as a plasticizer for silk. The water absorption properties and water vapour permeability were also measured.
The mechanism of these property enhancement were investigated using Scanning electron Microscopy (SEM) and X-ray Diffraction (XRD).The use of Propylene Glycol as plasticizer with the fibrous protein expands the functional features attainable and along with increase in flexibility which increases its utility in biomedical field.
