A theoretical analysis and prediction of pore size and pore size distribution in electrospun multilayer nanofibrous materials

Abstract

Electrospinning process can fabricate nanomaterials with unique nanostructures for potential biomedical and environmental applications. However, the prediction and, consequently, the control of the porous structure of these materials has been impractical due to the complexity of the electrospinning process. In this research, a theoretical model for characterizing the porous structure of the electrospun nanofibrous network has been developed by combining the stochastic and stereological probability approaches. From consideration of number of fiber-to-fiber contacts in an electrospun nanofibrous assembly, geometrical and statistical theory relating morphological and structural parameters of the network to the characteristic dimensions of interfibers pores is provided. It has been shown that these properties are strongly influenced by the fiber diameter, porosity, and thickness of assembly. It is also demonstrated that at a given network porosity, increasing fiber diameter and thickness of the network reduces the characteristic dimensions of pores. It is also discussed that the role of fiber diameter and number of the layer in the assembly is dominant in controlling the pore size distribution of the networks. The theory has been validated experimentally and results compared with the existing theory to predict the pore size distribution of nanofiber mats. It is believed that the presented theory for estimation of pore size distribution is more realistic and useful for further studies of multilayer random nanofibrous assemblies.

Design parameters for electrospun biodegradable vascular grafts

“…It was also confirmed by Bagherzadeh et al that with an increasing concentration of polymer solution, the fiber diameter as well as the pore size, porosity, and pore interconnectivity increase significantly. Similar to the outcomes of Yalcin Enis et al [38], these results also showed that the fiber diameter of fibrous scaffolds is a crucial structural parameter that can determine the pore structure of fibrous scaffolds [39][40][41].…”

“…Beside a good agreement that was obtained from two experimental techniques, namely the capillary flow porometry and confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM) methods [39,40], a theoretical method developed by the authors was validated by these experimental techniques and compared with accepted models to determine the average pore size and pore size distribution of multilayer nanofibrous scaffolds for tissue engineering applications [41]. It was also confirmed by Bagherzadeh et al that with an increasing concentration of polymer solution, the fiber diameter as well as the pore size, porosity, and pore interconnectivity increase significantly.…”

Three‐dimensional pore structure analysis of polycaprolactone nano‐microfibrous scaffolds using theoretical and experimental approaches

“…The common methods to make the fibrous material fluorescent for this approach incorporating Quantom Dots (QDs) nanoparticle into polymer solution before electrospinning . More detail and application of this method for further study of nanofibrous materials including analyzing the 3D pore structure and fiber‐to‐fiber contacts are reported elsewhere …”

Assessing the Increase in Specific Surface Area for Electrospun Fibrous Network due to Pore Induction

“…Nevertheless, the work of Bagherzadeh et al 12 was selected for adaptation in this study, since they more realistically exclude the fibre length occupied by previous contacts prior calculating the probability for any further contact.…”