• International Journal of Industrial Entomology and Biomaterials
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.1-6
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• 2015

Recently, sericin has attracted increasing attention in biomedical and cosmetic research because of its useful properties including acceleration of wound healing, improvement of cell attachment, and inhibition of ultraviolet-B induced apoptosis. However, sericin films have poor mechanical properties, which restricts the application to those fields. In this study, cellulose nanofibril (CNF)/sericin composite films were fabricated by solvent casting, and the effects of ultrasonication time and CNF content on the solution turbidity, molecular conformation, and film mechanical properties of sericin film were examined. As the ultrasonication time increased, the turbidity of the CNF/sericin suspension decreased. Conversely, as the CNF content increased, the turbidity increased. However, ${\beta}$-sheet crystallization and mechanical properties remained almost unchanged by varying the ultrasonication time and CNF content, indicating that CNF is not effective to improve the mechanical properties of sericin films.

• Polymer(Korea)
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• v.34 no.3
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• pp.237-241
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• 2010

Mechanical characteristics and chemical resistance have been investigated for PC/PBT blends. The changes in mechanical performance of PC/PBT blends was monitored during the treatment with both the PC thinner and general-purpose thinner to figure out the chemical resistance. The PC thinner greatly affected the mechanical properties of PC/PBT blends compared with general-purpose thinner. In the case of PC thinner treatment, the mechanical performance was improved with increased PC content at lower PC content ranges, say below 50%. However the mechanical performance was dropped rapidly at higher PC content ranges due to poor chemical resistance of PC. Transparent pure PC specimen became opaque after chemical treatment with PC thinner, and this can be interpreted by solvent-induced crystallization.