To improve water-resistant ability and mechanical properties of
silk fibroin (SF)/
hydroxybutyl chitosan (HBC) nanofibrous scaffolds for tissue-engineering applications,
genipin,
glutaraldehyde (GTA), and
ethanol were used to crosslink electrospun nanofibers, respectively. The mechanical properties of nanofibrous scaffolds were obviously improved after 24 h of crosslinking with
genipin and were superior to those crosslinked with GTA and
ethanol for 24 h. SEM indicated that crosslinked nanofibers with
genipin and GTA vapor had good water-resistant ability. Characterization of the microstructure (porosity and pore structure) demonstrated crosslinked nanofibrous scaffolds with
genipin and GTA vapor had lager porosities and mean diameters than those with
ethanol. Characterization of FTIR-ATR and (13)C NMR clarified both
genipin and GTA acted as crosslinking agents for SF and HBC. Furthermore,
genipin could induce SF conformation from random coil or α-helix to β-sheet. Although GTA could also successfully crosslink SF/HBC nanofibrous scaffolds, in long run,
genipin maybe a better method due to lower cytotoxicity than GTA. Cell viability studies and wound-healing test in rats clarified that the
genipin-crosslinked SF/HBC nanofibrous scaffolds had a good biocompatibility both in vitro and in vivo. These results suggested that
genipin-crosslinked SF/HBC nanofibrous scaffolds might be potential candidates for
wound dressing and tissue-engineering scaffolds.