Enhanced Physico-Mechanical Properties of Sericin–PVA Composite Films with a Potential Antibacterial and Controlled Drug Release Features for Wound Dressing

The application of silk sericin as a polymeric biomaterial has recently gained interest, although its film was found to be fragile, exhibiting brittleness when subjected to relatively slight stress, and it also displayed higher water solubility. This study focused on the enhanced physico-mechanical properties of the three films obtained by the crosslinking of sericin protein from three silkworm cocoons with poly (vinyl alcohol) (PVA) to reduce phase separation and solubilization of the films by promoting miscibility between sericin and PVA. The findings demonstrated how crosslinking with glutaraldehyde enhanced thermal stability and tensile strength and controlled the solubility of the three sericin–PVA films. The sericin from G. postica, G. rufobrunnea, and Argema mimosae is composed of serine, aspartic acid, and glutamic acid, which make up 80% of the total polar amino acids. X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns showed that sericin–PVA films have semicrystalline features, representing amorphous and crystalline regions. The XRD results also indicated that the Saturniidae sericin–PVA film (Sat-SPF), Gonometa postica sericin–PVA film (GP-SPF), and Gonometa rufobrunnea sericin–PVA film (GR-SPF) have crystallinity percentages of 66.4%, 55.9%, and 17.7%, respectively. The moisture vapor transmission rate (MVTR) values observed in this study ranged from 991.2 to 5160 g/m2/24 h, indicating that these films can effectively regulate moisture levels in wounds. The swelling capacity of the three sericin–PVA composite films depends on the crosslinking density of their structures and was also found to be sensitive to the pH of the aqueous media, demonstrating their hydrophilic nature and potential use in drug delivery systems. The water vapor permeability of sericin–PVA films increased with higher environmental relative humidity (RH) and moisture content within the films. The elongation at break for GP-SPF (107.2% ± 3.1) and Sat-SPF (73.0% ± 4.1) was significantly higher than in GR-SPF (29.3% ± 2.3). However, their tensile strength and elastic modulus were lower than those of GR-SPF. These results show that the number of polar groups (amino and hydroxyl groups) from both sericin and PVA influences all the properties of the sericin–PVA composite films. The three sericin–PVA solutions were found to have antibacterial efficacy against three Gram-positive and one Gram-negative bacteria over 24 h. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images revealed a rough surface with a granular network pattern, which supports the potential use of sericin–PVA films for cell adhesion and proliferation, which are essential for biomedical wound dressing applications.