Hydrogels are becoming widely used in biomaterial applications. The available methods for the preparation of these materials are continually growing. The gelation time (GT) of silk protein fibroin is difficult to control by physical methods. The cross-linkers used in available chemical techniques are likely to impact the biocompatibility of the resultant materials. In this paper, we demonstrate that the addition of sodium N-lauroyl sarcosinate (an amino-acid-based surfactant) accelerates the formation of hydrogels from fibroin. GT, turbidity variations, changes of viscoelasticity during the gelation process, and the mechanical properties of the products are measured. The secondary structure was probed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction and the morphologies of the products were investigated by scanning electron microscopy. Transformations in the β-sheet content were monitored by the fluorescence of Thioflavine T and circular dichroism measurements. The relationship between the surface tension of sodium N-lauroyl sarcosinate and the GT was also explained. To investigate cell compatibility, fibroblast cells were seeded onto the surface of the hydrogels. The results indicate that the sodium N-lauroyl sarcosinate/fibroin GT can be controlled. This blend-hydrogel demonstrates excellent cell compatibility, good compression strength, and outstanding compression-recovery characteristics. Sodium N-lauroyl sarcosinate/silk fibroin hydrogels containing β-sheets have considerable potential as replacement materials in addressing the tissue defects involved with repair surgery.
Keywords: biocompatibility; hydrogel; silk fibroin; surfactant.