Effects of electric field on the maximum electro-spinning rate of silk fibroin solutions

Owing to the excellent cyto-compatibility of silk fibroin (SF) and the simple fabrication of nano-fibrous webs, electro-spun SF webs have attracted much research attention in numerous biomedical fields. Because the production rate of electro-spun webs is strongly dependent on the electro-spinning rate used, the electro-spinning rate becomes more important. In the present study, to improve the electro-spinning rate of SF solutions, various electric fields were applied during electro-spinning of SF, and its effects on the maximum electro-spinning rate of SF solution as well as diameters and molecular conformations of the electro-spun SF fibers were examined. As the electric field was increased, the maximum electro-spinning rate of the SF solution also increased. The maximum electro-spinning rate of a 13% SF solution could be increased 12 × by increasing the electric field from 0.5 kV/cm (0.25 mL/h) to 2.5 kV/cm (3.0 mL/h). The dependence of the fiber diameter on the present electric field was not significant when using less-concentrated SF solutions (7–9% SF). On the other hand, at higher SF concentrations the electric field had a greater effect on the resulting fiber diameter. The electric field had a minimal effect of the molecular conformation and crystallinity index of the electro-spun SF webs.