Fabrication Of Nanoparticles From Silkworm Extract Obtained From High-Pressure Extraction For Cosmetics Application

Abstract

Sericin, a protein extract from Bombyx Mori Silkworm, has been applied widely in the cosmetics field. Sericin can be extracted through several methods, with or without chemicals. In recent years, sericin has been developed into a new biomaterial, by turning it into sericin nanoparticles. This study focused on extracting sericin from silkworm cocoons with a high-pressure extraction method and fabricating and characterizing the nanoparticles with a sericin solution. Sericin extracted with the high-pressure method had a wide range of molecular weights, it was suitable to apply two-step desolvation to fabricate. The characterization was conducted with DLS, SEM, GPC, and FTIR together with the Stability test. During the fabrication, the ratio between solvent: and nonsolvent was investigated with 3 different ratios 1:2, 1:3, and 1:6 to observe the effect of desolvating agent volume on the fabrication. In the study, it was observed that a ratio of 1:2 resulted in high potential nanoparticles size, with 184±11.75 nm in diameter. With the extremely negative charge, sericin nanoparticles from a ratio of 1:2 was the most stable sample during 15 days of stability test. Sericin nanoparticles had low molecular weight, with 20kDa particles making up the majority in the population. In IR spectrum, there was a signal of conformational change, which represented sericin had a slight change in secondary structure to be sericin nanoparticle which was more stable . There was no transformation in the functional group. Under the influence of a desolvating agent, the molecule precipitated and created spherical stable nanoparticles. The most stable nanoparticles were observed the morphology. On day 30, the morphology was taken, some of them had disintegrated, and some of them still maintained their spherical shape. The development and optimization of nanoparticle generation from silkworm cocoons protein will contribute to the development of a new biomaterial. Sericin nanoparticles are expected to be applied in many fields such as medicine and the cosmetic industry. To be able to fully understand sericin nanoparticles, a wide range of biochemical tests is highly recommended to be able to comprehensively evaluate the applicability of sericin nanoparticles.