Synthesis and Functionalization of PLA-Knitted Fabrics with Silk Fibroin Nanoparticles and Chitosan: Evaluation of Cytotoxicity and Cell Adhesion

The substance principal used to synthesize these materials is fibroin, obtained from the silkworm’s cocoon (Bombyx mori) in the form of a filament, but can be converted into nanometric particles. After the synthesis, the obtained samples were characterized by size and Zeta potential (via nanosizer), X-Ray diffraction (XRD), specific area determination by the BET method, Infrared Spectroscopy with Fourier Transform with attenuated diffuse reflectance (FTIR), transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The silk fibroin nanoparticles (SFNp) were immobilized on polylactic acid (PLA)-knitted fabric and functionalized with chitosan for FTIR and XRD analyses, in addition to cytotoxicity analysis with colorimetric test (MTT) and cell adhesion. The DLS, FTIR and MET results confirm the formation of spherical silk fibroin nanoparticles with average sizes between 48 and 156nm, and zeta potential of − 19.95mV which characterizes a good dispersibility. Cell-viability assessment showed that SFNp is a non-cytotoxic material at low concentrations up to 48h, confirming that the nanoparticle synthesis method using the ternary system is an effective and low-cost alternative. This technique has great potential for use in the development of biomaterials, due to the production of knitted tissues with PLA functionalized with chitosan and immobilized with SFNp, exhibiting mechanical strength and biocompatibility.