Physical Properties of Silk Fibroin Films Treated with Various Plasticizers

Silk fibroin (SF) films were prepared using various plasticizers and their physical properties were determined. Polyethylene glycol (PEG)-SF and polypropylene glycol (PPG)-SF films had tensile strengths (TS) of 23.71 MPa and 24.51 MPa, respectively, whereas the glycerol (G)-SF film had the lowest TS of 14.24 MPa. G-SF film had the highest % elongation, compared to PPG-SF and PEG-SF films. Water vapor permeability (WVP) of SF films varied with addition of plasticizers, and PEG-SF film had the lowest WVP. There was no significant difference in Hunter L value among treatments, but PEG-SF film had higher Hunter a and b values. These results suggest that SF film could be applied to food packaging and that the addition of plasticizers should improve the physical properties of SF film.