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. 2016 Aug 3;6:31037. doi: 10.1038/srep31037

Table 1. Comparison of SF hydrogels.

Ref. Method Shortest gelation time Modulus (kPa) Main conformation SF concentration
16 Storing SF solution at 4 °C ~3 days β-sheet 2 wt.%
16 Addition of glycerol in SF solution ~2 days β-sheet 2 wt.%
44 Addition of citric acid in SF solution and storing at 50 °C Overnight β-sheet 2 wt.%
15 Increasing SF concentration or temperature, decreasing pH, addition of ions, or polyethylene glycol <1 day ~200–6000 (C) β-sheet 4–20 wt.%
17 Freezing the SF solution with organic solvents at −20 °C > 6 hours ~3–50 (C) β-sheet 6 wt.%
37a Sonication treatment on SF solution >0.5 hour 369–1712 (C) β-sheet 4–12 wt.%
45 Vortex treatment on SF solution ~35 minutes 0.1–70 (S) β-sheet 1.3–5.2 wt.%
27 Electrical (direct current) treatment on SF solution ~3 minutes ~1 (S) Amorphous 8.4 wt.%
46 Addition of ethylene glycol diglycidyl ether in SF solution at 50 °C Within 2 hours 0.01–100 (S) β-sheet 4.2 wt.%
47 Addition of sodium dodecyl sulfate in SF solution ~15 minutes β-sheet 4% (wt/vol)
48 Addition of methylcellulose in SF solution at 50 °C ~40 hours β-sheet 2 wt.%
49 Freezing the SF solution, and then immersion them in ethanol Overnight β-sheet 5 wt.%
39b HRP mediated crosslinking of SF solution 1 hour 0.2–10 (S) Random coil 1–6 wt.%

Ref.: reference; (C): compressive modulus; (S): storage modulus tested in rheometer.

aAqueous SF solution was mixed with cells (final concentration: 0.5 million/mL). The mixture would gel in 0.5–2 hours. The compression modulus was tested without cells.

bThe hydrogels was allowed to cure for 1 hour at 37 °C for cell seeding, while the shortest gelling time was not mentioned.