Electrospinning and Electrospun Nanofibrous Materials – Promising Scaffolds in Tissue Engineering

Abstract

Electrospinning is a highly used technique in the tissue engineering field, particularly for the development of tissue supportive scaffolds. Use of electrospun derived nano and microfibers is of crucial importance for extracellular matrix mimicking and cell adhesion and proliferation. This paper is focused on the electrospinning process and its ideal conditions for producing scaffolds for tissue engineering purpose. With use of a series of biocompatible polymers and solvents, solutions were tested in various electrospinning settings in order to produce microscale fibers. The production of these fibers is directly related to the electrospinning parameters in use, hence the importance of optimizing this process. A series of scaffold samples were built from various solutions in different parameter conditions. The scaffolds were analyzed with microscopy for fiber diameter measurement. Within this paper, we analyzed influence of input parameters on fiber output diameter which is of particular importance for cell adhesion. Input to the system are material properties of the tested solutions, needle electrode dimensions, the flow rate of the solution, the distance between electrodes and the applied voltage.