Generation of monodisperse silk microspheres prepared with microfluidics

David N. Breslauer, Susan J. Muller, Luke P. Lee

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

81 Scopus citations

Abstract

Monodisperse microspheres of reconstituted silkworm cocoon silk were produced using a glass capillary-based microfluidic system and by identifying an appropriate solvent/nonsolvent fluid system. The microspheres can be produced to a range of different diameters depending on the system flow rates and have a nearly homogeneous size distribution. The silk microspheres exhibit a unique core-shell architecture and have a largely β-sheet structure, as measured by infrared spectroscopy. Mechanical characterization was performed with AFM nanoindentation and indicates that the microspheres are unexpectedly soft for a silk material. Because silk is well established as biocompatible and biodegradable, we anticipate that these silk microspheres could have particular utility in drug delivery and controlled release.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)643-647
Number of pages5
JournalBiomacromolecules
Volume11
Issue number3
DOIs
StatePublished - 8 Mar 2010

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