Chitosan hydrogel containing silk fibroin nanofibrils for controllable properties and its application to drug delivery system

The biocompatibility of fibroin and chitosan composite is reported to be used for medical applications due to their outstanding properties such as nontoxicity and biodegradability, promoting cell attachment and proliferation. Silk fibroin nanofibers (FNF) can be successfully produced via a simple grinding method. Various concentrations of fibroin nanofiber containing chitosan (CS) in the hydrogel were prepared by the neutralization method. Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, mechanical properties, bioactivity in a stimuli environment, and drug-loading release activities were investigated. The combined gels achieved the high drug loading (>10 %), idea drug encapsulation efficiency (>25 %) with 0.4 FNF/CS and 0.6 FNF/CS gels, and their controllable release of ibuprofen in stimulus condition. The resulting fibroin nanofiber and chitosan composite could be developed for a wide range of applications such as wound dressing, biomaterials, and drug delivery.