Wool articles coated with silk fibroin

Abstract

This disclosure provides novel silk coated articles and methods of preparing same. In some embodiments, silk coated articles include fabrics pretreated with a reducing agent that are coated with aqueous solutions of silk protein fragments having low, medium, and/or high molecular weight.

1 - 20 . (canceled) 
     
     
         21 . A method of making a silk fibroin coated wool fabric, comprising:
 applying to the fabric a solution comprising a reducing agent;   applying to the fabric a silk fibroin solution; and   drying the fabric.   
     
     
         22 - 24 . (canceled) 
     
     
         25 . The method of  claim 21 , wherein the silk fibroin solution comprises silk fibroin fragments having an average weight average molecular weight selected from between about 1 kDa and about 5 kDa, from between about 5 kDa and about 10 kDa, from between about 6 kDa and about 17 kDa, from between about 10 kDa and about 15 kDa, from between about 14 kDa and about 30 kDa, from between about 15 kDa and about 20 kDa, from between about 17 kDa and about 39 kDa, from between about 20 kDa and about 25 kDa, from between about 25 kDa and about 30 kDa, from between about 30 kDa and about 35 kDa, from between about 35 kDa and about 40 kDa, from between about 39 kDa and about 54 kDa, from between about 39 kDa and about 80 kDa, from between about 40 kDa and about 45 kDa, from between about 45 kDa and about 50 kDa, from between about 50 kDa and about 55 kDa, from between about 55 kDa and about 60 kDa, from between about 60 kDa and about 100 kDa, or from between about 80 kDa and about 144 kDa, and a polydispersity selected from between 1 and about 5. 
     
     
         26 . (canceled) 
     
     
         27 . The method of  claim 21 , wherein the concentration of the silk fibroin solution is between about 0.1% w/v and about 0.5% w/v, between about 0.5% w/v and about 1% w/v, between about 1% w/v and about 1.5% w/v, between about 1.5% w/v and about 2% w/v, between about 2% w/v and about 3% w/v, between about 3% w/v and about 4% w/v, between about 4% w/v and about 5% w/v, between about 5% w/v and about 6% w/v, between about 6% w/v and about 7% w/v, between about 7% w/v and about 8% w/v, between about 8% w/v and about 9% w/v, or between about 9% w/v and about 10% w/v. 
     
     
         28 - 29 . (canceled) 
     
     
         30 . The method of  claim 21 , wherein the drying comprises heating. 
     
     
         31 . (canceled) 
     
     
         32 . The method of  claim 21 , wherein the pH of the silk fibroin solution is acidic. 
     
     
         33 - 35 . (canceled) 
     
     
         36 . The method of  claim 21 , wherein the fabric is dried after applying the solution comprising a reducing agent and before applying the silk fibroin solution. 
     
     
         37 . The method of  claim 21 , wherein the concentration of the reducing agent in the solution ranges from about 1 g/L to about 12 g/L. 
     
     
         38 . The method of  claim 21 , wherein the silk fibroin solution further comprises a reducing agent. 
     
     
         39 . The method of  claim 21 , wherein the silk fibroin solution and the solution comprising a reducing agent are applied at substantially the same time. 
     
     
         40 . The method of  claim 21 , wherein the silk fibroin solution and the solution comprising a reducing agent are substantially one solution. 
     
     
         41 . The method of  claim 21 , wherein the fabric comprises one or more of natural wool, synthetic wool, alpaca fleece, alpaca wool, lama fleece, lama wool, cashmere, sheep fleece, sheep wool, mohair wool, camel hair, or angora wool. 
     
     
         42 . The method of  claim 21 , wherein the fabric comprises one or more of natural wool, chlorine-descaled wool, or non-chlorine descaled wool. 
     
     
         43 . The method of  claim 21 , wherein the reducing agent is independently selected from an amino acid, sodium sulfite, sodium bisulfite, ascorbic acid, 2-mercaptoethanol, sodium thioglycolate, dithiothreitol, sodium sulphide, sodium hydrosulfide, thioglycolic acid, thiosalicylic acid, and pseudothiohydantoin. 
     
     
         44 . The method of  claim 21 , wherein the reducing agent is independently at each occurrence L-cysteine. 
     
     
         45 . The method of  claim 21 , further comprising applying to the fabric a crosslinker. 
     
     
         46 . The method of  claim 45 , wherein the crosslinker is glycerol diglycidyl ether (GDE). 
     
     
         47 . (canceled) 
     
     
         48 . The method of  claim 21 , wherein the silk fibroin solution further comprises about 0.01% (w/w) to about 10% (w/w) sericin relative to the silk fibroin fragments. 
     
     
         49 . The method of  claim 21 , wherein the silk fibroin solution comprises silk fibroin fragments which do not spontaneously or gradually gelate and do not visibly change in color or turbidity when in an aqueous solution for at least 10 days prior to formulation into the silk fibroin solution. 
     
     
         50 . An article comprising a wool fabric prepared by the method of  claim 21 . 
     
     
         51 . The method of  claim 21 , wherein the silk fibroin solution and the solution comprising a reducing agent are applied at different times.