Fabrication of nanofibrous scaffolds for tissue engineering applications

Abstract

Nanofi brous scaffolds which mimic the structural features of a natural extracellular matrix (ECM) can be appealing scaffold candidates for tissue engineering as they provide similar physical cues to the native environment of the targeted tissue to regenerate. This chapter discusses different strategies to fabricate nanofi brous scaffolds for tissue engineering. We fi rst describe three major methods for nanofi brous scaffold fabrication: molecular self-assembly, phase separation, and electrospinning. Then, approaches for surface modifi cation of nanofi brous scaffolds including blending and coating, plasma treatment, wet chemical methods, and surface graft polymerization are presented. Finally, applications of nanofi brous scaffolds in tissue engineering are introduced.

Plasma surface functionalization of biodegradable electrospun scaffolds for tissue engineering applications

“…After a great deal of efforts, several chemical, physical, electrostatic and thermal techniques were developed to fabricate scaffolds mimicking the fibrillary structure of the ECM, such as template synthesis, liquid-liquid phase separation, vapor-phase polymerization, self-assembly and electrospinning [68][69][70][71]. This last technique, also called electrostatic spinning has been first introduced in the 1930s, but it was until the end of the 20 th century that it received a great surge of interest within the scientific community, after Reneker et al discovered the possibility of generating electrospun fibers from various polymers [72,73].…”

“…Three different types of forces are involved in order to obtain aligned fibers: a rotating mandrel exerts mechanical forces, parallel permanent magnets exert magnetic forces and parallel electrodes exert electrostatic forces. In many TE applications, in addition to the fibrillary structure of the scaffold, the anisotropy in the topography was demonstrated to have a positive effect on the mechanical properties and the cellular behavior [71,86].…”

“…The synchronic effect of electrospinning and plasma grafting was recently associated with several advances in the TE field. This was illustrated by the significant enhancement of several cellular activities when plasma grafts biomolecules such as ECM components and growth factors on nanofibers [13,71]. Both plasma grafting and plasma polymerization techniques are considered superior to the plasma activation in terms of ageing effect.…”

Electrospinned bioactive glass/nano hydroxyapatite reinforced polycaprolactone GTR/GBR membranes in periodontics- A review

“…The polymer fluid is then introduced into the capillary tube for electrospinning. [39][40][41] In the electrospinning process, a polymer solution held by its surface tension at the end of a capillary tube is subjected to an electric field and an electric charge is induced on the liquid surface due to this electric field. When the electric field applied reaches a critical value, the repulsive electrical forces overcome the surface tension forces.…”

Aggregation Behavior of Nano-Silica in Polyvinyl Alcohol/Polyacrylamide Hydrogels Based on Dissipative Particle Dynamics

“…With their good biocompatibility, biological activity and three-dimensional network structure, polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) and polyacrylamide (PAM) have been widely used and blended in the preparation of biomedical hydrogels [7,8]. Due to their poor mechanical properties [8,9], however, the application of PVA/PAM blended hydrogels has been limited in applications such as bone and cartilage repair, where the mechanical properties are of critical importance [10][11][12][13]. Recent studies have shown that the introduction of nano-silica particles into polymeric materials can not only endow polymer scaffolds with biomineralization capability, but also increase the mechanical strength of polymer material [14,15].…”