Abstract
Silk fibroin, from Bombyx mori solutions were electrospun into nanofibers with circular and ribbon like morphology. Diameters of the electrospun fibers were ranged from 60 to 7000 nm. The effects of electrospinning temperature, solution concentration and electric field on the formation of nanofibers and their morphology were studied. Optical and scanning electron microscope were used to study the morphology and diameter of electrospun nanofibers. It was observed that the nanofibers morphology depends on the electrospinning parameters and became flattened with ribbon like shape with increasing the electrospinning temperature. The nanofiber diameter increased with the increase in the concentration of silk solution at all electrospinning temperature. Electric field showed different effects on the nanofiber morphology at 25oC. Referring to the literature the probable mechanism responsible for the change of morphology was pointed out. Response surface methodology (RSM) was used to obtain a quantitative relationship between selected electrospinning parameters and average fiber diameter and its distribution. It was shown that concentration of silk fibroin solution and electrospinning temperature had a significant effect on the fiber diameter. Keywords: biopolymers, scanning electron microscope, morphology, proteins, nanofibers, statistical analysis