Morphology, secondary structure and thermal properties of silk fibroin/gelatin blend film

This study aimed to prepare Silk Fibroin (SF) and Gelatin (G) blend film and study its morphology, secondary structure and thermal properties compared to native SF and G films. The films were prepared from the SF solution by casting on the polystyrene plates. They were investigated their secondary structure by fourier transform-infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, morphology using Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM). In addition, Thermogravimetric Analysis (TG) and Differential TG (DTG) were used for thermal properties investigation. The results found that the SF/G blend film composed of both alpha-helix and beta-sheet structures which were similar characteristics of the native SF and G. This result was similar to the TG and DTG analysis according to blending between SF and G is not enhancing thermal stability of the film. However, changes in some absorption bands and temperatures were also observed from the blend film. The result suggested that chemical interaction and hydrogen bonding between SF and G could be formed. The formation could be affected to the uniform of the surface throughout the film under SEM.