The last decade has seen an extensive development of the field of nanomaterials which are currently being used in their first commercial applications. This rapid development is necessarily connected with certain technological demands. This paper describes a technology for the manufacture of nanomaterials from solutions by electrostatic spinning or spraying. Although this method has been well known since the last century, there are still only a few high-quality devices that can be used for the research of new nanomaterials. The main reason for this is that the process of nanomaterials manufacturing is influenced by numerous processing parameters which need to be properly regulated, and furthermore all device components must be resistant to interference from high voltage. The technological requirements are thus stringent. Moreover, such a device must be multifunctional, compact and affordable. This paper describes the technical aspects of a unique laboratory device, i.e., device modules and central control, measured processing parameters, and their effect on the produced materials. The developed laboratory device meets the most demanding criteria for a nanotechnological laboratory device and helps facilitate and speed up the research and development of new nanomaterials produced in high electrostatic field.

Non-invasive optical diagnostic methods allow important information about studied systems to be obtained in a non-destructive way. Complete diagnosis requires information about the chemical composition as well as the morphological structure of a sample. We report on the development of an opto-mechanical probe that combines Raman spectroscopy (RS) and optical coherence tomography (OCT), two methods that provide all the crucial information needed for a non-invasive diagnosis. The aim of this paper is to introduce the technical design, construction and optimization of a dual opto-mechanical probe combining two in-house developed devices for confocal RS and OCT. The unique benefit of the probe is a gradual acquisition of OCT and RS data, which allows to use the acquired OCT images to pinpoint locations of interest for RS measurements. The parameters and the correct functioning of the probe were verified by RS scanning of various samples (silicon wafer and ex vivo tissue) based on their OCT images - lateral as well as depth scanning was performed. Both the OCT and RS systems were developed, optimized and tested with the ultimate aim of verifying the functionality of the probe. Picture: Schematic illustration and visualization of the developed RS-OCT probe.

This paper studies the causes of thickness inhomogeneities in continuously deposited large-area nanofibrous layers, introduces a new method of their rapid analysis and suggests technical measures to ensure greater thickness uniformity of produced nanofibrous layers. The thickness uniformity of nanofibrous layers over large surface areas and its testing have recently appeared as very important issues following the scale up of the production of nanofibrous layers from laboratory to industrial levels, i.e. from point-to-plate arrangement to roll-to-roll processing. The basic electrostatic spinning method produces layers with thickness distribution corresponding to the bivariate Gaussian distribution. However, increasing production and scaling-up processes often results in variations in the thickness of deposited nanofibrous layers even up to the order of tens of percent. But for most applications, inhomogeneities in the thickness are a critical and even limiting factor. Our results show that by using the method of electrodynamic spinning with moving electrodes, we were able to achieve 30% greater thickness uniformity within the observed area (100 x 26) cm2 than with the electrostatic method. Electrodynamic spinning can therefore be considered a very promising technology for the industrial production. We also demonstrated the digital image analysis as a new and efficient tool to optically determine the thickness uniformity of electrospun layers by analyzing the intensity of transmitted light through the layer on 26 x 22 cm2 sample area. This unique approach brings benefits of non-destructive, rapid and reproducible evaluation of the thickness uniformity of the nanofibrous layers over decimeter-square surface areas at the same time.

The 4SPIN ® desktop laboratory device has been developed for the deposition of nanomaterials dedicated not only to medical applications, but also to other fields such as nanoelectronics, optics, filtration, etc. The apparatus integrates various methods to enable the preparation of nanostructured materials according to researching demands. Nine principally different emitters (most of them are usable in the method called electroblowing) and six different collectors enable researchers to perform various types of experiments. This allowed nanofibrous materials with different microscopic and macroscopic structures to be successfully prepared. The 4SPIN® laboratory device was developed at Contipro Biotech Ltd. and seven principles used were patented. The device has been certified for electrical safety by the CE mark and has been marketed since January 2013.

A composite nanofibrous layer containing collagen and hydroxyapatite was deposited on selected surface areas of titanium acetabular cups. The layer was deposited on the irregular surface of these 3D objects using a specially developed electrospinning system designed to ensure the stability of the spinning process and to produce a layer approximately 100 micrometers thick with an adequate thickness uniformity. It was verified that the layer had the intended nanostructured morphology throughout its entire thickness and that the prepared layer sufficiently adhered to the smooth surface of the model titanium implants even after all the post-deposition sterilization and stabilization treatments were performed. The resulting layers had an average thickness of (110 ± 30) micrometers and an average fiber diameter of (170 ± 49) nanometers. They were produced using a relatively simple and cost-effective technology and yet they were verifiably biocompatible and structurally stable. Collagen- and hydroxyapatite-based composite nanostructured surface modifications represent promising surface treatment options for metal implants.