Cetyl Trimethyl Ammonium Bromide Modified Montmorillonite‐Doped Tasar Silk Fibroin/Polyvinyl Alcohol Blend 3D Nanowebs for Tissue Engineering Applications

Abstract Cetyl trimethyl ammonium bromide (CTAB) modified montmorillonite (MMT) clay (CTAB‐MT) doped, tasar silk fibroin‐polyvinyl alcohol blend‐based 3D nanowebs are generated through electrospinning technique. The morphological analysis reveals the formation of interlinked 3D nanoweb‐like architecture and high surface roughness through scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and atomic force microscopy, respectively. The existence of CTAB‐MT in nanowebs is confirmed by Fourier transform infrared and complete exfoliation of clay in the polymer blend matrix along with the altered crystallinity of samples is indicated in X‐ray diffraction. The incorporation of CTAB‐MT clay has shown the enhancement of thermal and mechanical properties of nanoweb samples while the water uptake capacity is reduced and enzymatic biodegradability is found to slow down. The samples present excellent biocompatibility with no cytotoxicity in the Alamar blue assay and high attachment as well as spreading of L929 fibroblast cells covering the entire surface as observed in SEM. The CTAB‐MT clay has imparted the samples with good antimicrobial activity against E. coli and S. aureus bacterial strains. The aforementioned properties of these CTAB‐MT clay doped 3D nanowebs direct toward their suitability as a potential candidate for tissue engineering applications in the biomedical field.