Silk solution processing automation.
Li, Lei.
2011
-
Abstract: Natural silk produced by silkworms and spiders exhibits many unique
properties, such as high tensile strength and extensibility, controllable degradation,
biological compatibility, as well as a structure that can be manipulated chemically for
particular applications. Silk has been used as a biomaterial in biomedical applications for
years, most notably for sutures and tissue engineer... read moreing scaffolds. For many biomedical
applications, silk cocoons are transformed into a silk solution as the first step. The
existing silk solution processing used by biomedical researchers at Tufts University
involves degumming, drying, dissolving and dialysis, which require significant hands-on
human involvement. In this thesis, a refined silk solution processing approach is proposed
with a focus on a new automated boiling system for degumming silk cocoons. Using National
Instruments' LabVIEW software for control and customized water sensors for feedback, the
automated boiling system was demonstrated to perform correctly. Ongoing efforts to make
monitoring and control of the process will be discussed as well.
Thesis (M.S.)--Tufts University, 2011.
Submitted to the Dept. of Mechanical Engineering.
Advisor: Gary Leisk.
Committee: David Kaplan, and Chris Rogers.
Keywords: Mechanical Engineering, and Biomedical Engineering.read less - ID:
- df65vm17t
- Component ID:
- tufts:20898
- To Cite:
- DCA Citation Guide EndNote
