X-ray structural study of noncrystalline regenerated Bombyx mori silk fibroin

X-ray diffraction measurements of regenerated Bombyx mori silk fibroin were carried out to determine its structural characteristic from an analysis of differential radial distribution functions (DRDFs). The temperature dependence of X-ray diffraction patterns from noncrystalline and crystal structures of regenerated silk fibroin was investigated using a high temperature furnace. Time resolved X-ray diffraction profiles were also obtained to construct kinematical models of structural changes caused by the addition of water. DRDFs, calculated from the experimental data, were compared with the DRDFs simulated on the basis of the Monte Carlo method. In order to model the noncrystalline structures, structural units were assumed to be parts of the crystalline structure of silk and those with appropriate structural defects reported previously. From the comparison of experimental and simulated DRDFs, it was determined that noncrystalline regenerated silk consisted of locally ordered atomic sheets similar to the atomic arrangement in the silk I crystal (Type-I sheets), and the final state of the structural change was noncrystalline, consisting of small crystallites, the structure of which is similar to that of silk II (Type-II crystallites). Time resolved DRDFs were also qualitatively interpreted by both the ordering of Type-I sheets and structural changes from Type-I to Type-II. The formation of the small Type-II crystallites obtained in this study was consistent with the nucleation of silk II by birefringence measurements of silk glands and the spinneret of Bombyx mori silkworm reported previously. X-ray diffraction should be a useful technique to understand the structural characteristics of noncrystalline organic materials.