Experimental investigation of the governing parameters in the electrospinning of poly(3‐hydroxybutyrate) scaffolds: Structural characteristics of the pores

Abstract

We sought to determine the impact of electrospinning parameters on a trustworthy criterion that could evidently improve the maximum applicability of fibrous scaffolds for tissue regeneration. We used an image analysis technique to elucidate the web permeability index (WPI) by modeling the formation of electrospun scaffolds. Poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) (P3HB) scaffolds were fabricated according to predetermined conditions of levels in a Taguchi orthogonal design. The material parameters were the polymer concentration, conductivity, and volatility of the solution. The processing parameters were the applied voltage and nozzle-to-collector distance. With a law to monitor the WPI values when the polymer concentration or the applied voltage was increased, the pore interconnectivity was decreased. The quality of the jet instability altered the pore numbers, areas, and other structural characteristics, all of which determined the scaffold porosity and aperture interconnectivity. An initial drastic increase was observed in the WPI values because of the chain entanglement phenomenon above a 6 wt % P3HB content. Although the solution mixture significantly (p < 0.05) changed the scaffold architectural characteristics as a function of the solution viscosity and surface tension, it had a minor impact on the WPI values. The solution mixture gained the third place of significance, and the distance was approved as the least important factor.

Evaluation of structural and mechanical properties of electrospun nano-micro hybrid of poly hydroxybutyrate-chitosan/silk scaffold for cartilage tissue engineering

“…[9] Tehrani et al . [24] were obtained smooth P3HB fibrous scaffolds without beads with diameters of approximately 700 nm to 4 µ. Moreover, Masaeli et al .…”

Orthogonal design preparation of phenolic fiber by melt electrospinning

“…Orthogonal experimental design is a mathematical method used for arranging multifactor, multilevel experiments, in which representative points are selected to carry out sample experiments from the overall experiments on the basis of orthogonality. This scientific and efficient method is applied broadly in many fields to investigate the relative importance of each factor and identifies the ideal values for various factors . We can quickly determine the impact of factors and their levels by employing the orthogonal experimental design method, which not only saves experimental time and raw materials, but also provides accurate and credible optimal parameters, in this case, for melt electrospinning.…”

Electrospun poly(hydroxybutyrate)/chitosan blend fibrous scaffolds for cartilage tissue engineering

“…Polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB) is a natural polymer with promising properties such as good biocompatibility and high mechanical strength in comparison with other natural polymers. However, PHB suffers from its low hydrophilicity and very slow mass loss rate, especially in case of cartilage tissue engineering application . Blending with other polymers is an approach to overcome the restrictions of PHB.…”

“…However, PHB suffers from its low hydrophilicity and very slow mass loss rate, especially in case of cartilage tissue engineering application. [14][15][16][17][18] Blending with other polymers is an approach to overcome the restrictions of PHB. To date, many synthetic polymers, including poly(hydroxybutyrate-hydroxyhexanoate) (PHBHHx), poly (hydroxybutyrate-valerate) (PHBV), polyaniline (PA), poly(Ecaprolactone), and so forth, have been blended with PHB.…”