Hydroxyapatite (HAP) (core)/silk fibroin (SF) (shell) nanofiber (mat) was prepared by a co-electrospinning technique based on the successful preparation of HAP/SF composite nanofiber by electrospinning. The results showed that HAP existed in the both fibers, which were characterized by SEM, TEM, FTIR, and XRD. The advantages of co-electrospinning technique exhibited that it solved not only the problem of the influence of pH value on the structure of SF, but also dramatically increased the HAP content in the electrospun mat. In addition, a preliminary study on the mineralization of HAP using the electrospun mat of SF, SF/HAP composite and HAP (core)/SF (shell) mat as organic templates was performed. The results indicated that the HAP (core)/SF (shell) mat with relative high HAP content was more suitable for a mineralization process.

Key words: silk protein, nano-hydroxyapatite (nHAP), co-electrospinning, hybrid