Abstract
Sericin is a protein extracted from silkworm´s cocoons (Bombyx mori) and sodium alginate is an anionic polysaccharide found in species of marine brown algae. Both are biomaterials usually studied because of their biodegradability and biocompatibility properties that enable the use of these materials for many applications like medical biomaterials and functional biomembranes production. Nowadays, researches with particles produced from sericin and alginate blend are focused mainly in developing new drug delivery systems. However, other applications can be purposed, for example, in the environmental area. The goal of this study is to evaluate the particles produced from the blend between sericin and alginate. The dripping technique, in aqueous and alcoholic solutions of CaCl2, was applied to produce particles with 1 %, 2 % and 3 % w/v of alginate in sericin solution (2.5 % w/V). The formed particles from different blends were evaluated by humidity, percentage of solubilised matter (water solubility), SEM - Scanning Electron Microscopy, FTIR – Fourier transform infrared spectrometry and Zeta Potential. The results demonstrated that the cross-linking process by ionic gelation and by heating could reduce the water solubility of particles and promote changes in their chemical structure, as seen in SEM analyses and FTIR spectra.
