Field‐Driven Surface Segregation of Biofunctional Species on Electrospun PMMA/PEO Microfibers

Abstract

The need to biofunctionalize polymer surfaces for targeted bio‐related applications continues to grow, and efforts designed to meet this need rely heavily on surface grafting or polymerization. In this study, we provide a viable alternative by demonstrating that the peptide segment of a polymer‐peptide conjugate can be selectively driven to the surface of polymer nano/microfibers during electrospinning due to contrast in polarizability. Judicious choice of the polymer sequence in the conjugate permits use of the conjugate with compatible fiber‐forming polymers. Here, we use a water soluble poly(ethylene oxide)‐containing conjugate in combination with a hydrophobic thermoplastic, poly(methyl methacrylate). Surface enrichment is measured by X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and fiber morphology is investigated by electron microscopy. Microfibers generated from the blends examined here are largely resistant to long term water immersion and are thus suited as support scaffolds or filtration membranes.magnified image

The Creation of Electrospun Nanofibers from Platelet Rich Plasma

“…The high protein release from scaffolds of 100 mg/ml PRGF over the other scaffolds may be explained by the scaffold's smaller fiber diameters. Although not specifically investigated in this study, other previously published studies have demonstrated similar results, and explain that with smaller fiber diameters there is less distance for molecules to traverse to reach the fiber surface, hence, more protein release from the fibers over time [46][47][48][49]. The rise in protein release after day 21 may be due to fiber degradation of the PRGF scaffolds occurring around 28-35 days and subsequent release of entrapped proteins.…”

Effect of surface modification of nanofibres with glutamic acid peptide on calcium phosphate nucleation and osteogenic differentiation of marrow stromal cells

“…It should be noted that the simulations were performed in the absence of an electric field, thus the actual percentage of GLU on the fibre surface may be higher than the predicted values. Sun et al (2008) used the electric field applied during electrospinning to induce segregation of peptides to the fibre surface with poly(ethylene oxide)peptide conjugates (Sun et al, 2008). The simulation results taken together with contact angle measurements in Figure 4a and fluorescence measurements of FITClabelled PLA-GLUK fibres in Figure 2b provide evidence for localization of PLA-GLU to the fibre surface when blended with PLGA.…”

Lamellar stack formation and degradative behaviors of hydrolytically degraded poly(ε‐caprolactone) and poly(glycolide‐ε‐caprolactone) blended fibers

“…10,11 Therefore, this study provides a systematic investigation of the hydrolytic degradation of electrospun fibers comprised of two popular synthetic polymers: hydrophobic poly(e-caprolactone) (PCL) and hydrophilic polyglycolic acid (PGA). Although both polymers are already used in FDA approved devices, [12][13][14] each polymer suffers distinct disadvantages. PCL, with its glass transition temperature at À60 C, is too soft at physiologic temperatures to embody high mechanical strength.…”