Electrospinning P(LLA‐CL) Nanofiber: A Tubular Scaffold Fabrication with Circumferential Alignment

Abstract

In this paper a synthetic Poly(L‐lactic‐co‐ϵ‐caprolactone) [P(LLA‐CL)] (75:25) copolymer has been fabricated into a nanofibrous structure by electrospinning. The polymer crystal structure has been investigated by DSC and x‐ray diffraction method. During electrospinning at room temperature, a crystallization of LLA sequence in the P(LLA‐CL) copolymer could not form, while a relatively regular arrangement of CL sequence was observed. In order to obtain a tubular scaffold, a rotating mandrel was designed to collect the fiber, so that the tubular scaffold can be retrieved from the mandrel with an inner diameter same as that of the outer diameter of the mandrel. An auxiliary electrode with a sharp edge and a negative charge was set under the mandrel to guide the fiber deposition on the mandrel. When the sharp edge bar was vertical to the rotating axle of the mandrel and just beneath the spinning nozzle, nanofibers with circumferential alignment were obtained. With this method it is possible to obtain a tubular scaffold with suitable fiber alignment for blood vessel tissue engineering.

Effect of Polymer Molecular Weight on the Electrospinning of Polylactides in Entangled and Aligned Fiber Forms

“…For example, F. Yang et al [4] studied cell proliferation on the aligning electrospun PLA fibers to find out that growth of the neural stem cells is improved on the aligned fibers. Xiumei Mo et al [10] also reported that a tubular scaffold made of aligning electrospun PLA fibers is suitable for regenerating blood vessels. In our process a large amount of aligning fibers can readily be obtained, and their intrinsic applicability is wider not only as biomedical materials but also as industrial materials.…”

Biased AC Electrospinning of Aligned Polymer Nanofibers

“…[16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23] Examples include increasing the rotational speed of the collecting drum, introducing a potential across a gap or series of gaps in the collecting electrode, introducing an external lens element or a viscous liquid environment, or rapidly oscillating a grounded frame within the liquid jet. All of these methods rely on minimizing the fiber instability by applying external forces on the fibers during production.…”

Electrospinning for nano- to mesoscale photonic structures

“…The multitude of applications requiring alignment makes evident the need for straightforward and uninvolved processes for producing aligned fiber structures beyond that of templated strategies. Previously, alignment has been accomplished through rotating collector drums [273,274], counter electrodes [275], and parallel auxiliary electrodes placed behind the deposition surface [276]. Variations of the latter include deposition in the gap between electrodes [277] and, moreover, deposition in the gap between collecting rings [278].…”