TY - JOUR TI - Structure property relationships of carbohydrate/protein based biomaterials DO - https://doi.org/doi:10.7282/T3N58Q47 PY - 2017 AB - Cellulose and silk blended biomaterial films were regenerated from ionic liquid solutions and investigated to characterize and understand the effect of inter- and intra-molecular interactions upon the structure, morphology and thermal properties. The investigation focuses on studying these effects as a function of silk to cellulose concentration and as a function of ionic liquid type with a constant silk to cellulose concentration. Various characterization techniques were used to characterize structural, morphological and thermal properties: Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and X-ray scattering. The data shows that the inter- and intra-molecular interactions allow for different structures to be formed. The results showed that the cellulose microcrystalline structure and β-sheets from the silk can be disrupted by inter- and intra-molecular hydrogen bonds and lead to the formation of intermediate semicrystalline or amorphous structures. These various techniques provide evidence that suggest the hydrogen bonds between the β-sheets and the glucose units in the cellulose chains control the thermal and structural properties of the blended films, changing the morphology and physicochemical properties. The type of structure obtained can be modified by the type of ionic liquid, especially the type of anion used. A large anion with increased interactions controls the thermal properties and the crystallinity of the film. KW - Chemistry KW - Biomedical materials KW - Cellulose LA - eng ER -