The study of biomaterials includes aspects of medicine, biology, chemistry, engineering, environmental science, and materials science. Biomaterials are likely to revolutionize modern materials science. Yet, there are still many open questions regarding their processability and our ability to predict their properties, especially for materials made from multiple biopolymer components. The focus of this research is to understand the interactions between Avicel cellulose and <i>B</i><i>ombyx mori </i>silk biocomposites, and how these interactions affect the cellulose crystallite formation and protein secondary structures, which directly affect ionic conductivity for the production of biobatteries. Also, the effect of additional ionic liquid added to the system is studied to determine how ionic conductivity and morphological properties are changed as a result. Various characterization methods were employed to analyze the morphological, thermal, and mechanical properties of the biocomposite films including Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), Thermogravimetric Analysis (TGA), Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC), X-Ray Scattering, Dielectric Relaxation Spectroscopy (DRS), and Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM). With the systematic variation of the silk/cellulose percent ratio, ionic liquid type, and coagulation agent, we provided evidence to suggest a direct relationship between morphology and ionic conductivity. In particular, the results show that the ionic conductivity is dependent on material content, cellulose crystallinity, and protein beta-sheet content. Furthermore, when the ionic liquid was added as 10% of the mass of the sample, we provided evidence to suggest a strong correlation between morphology and ionic conductivity.

Importance of morphology, elasticity, and conductivity of silk-cellulose biocomposites for biobattery fabrication

ACS Fall 2020 Virtual Meeting

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