Impact of substrate geometry on electrospun fiber deposition and alignment

Abstract

Aligned, uniform fiber matrixes are highly desirable in numerous engineering and physical science applications. Here, modified electrospinning (ES) deposition substrates (paired and in parallel) are explored to achieve rapid preparation of multiple topographies. Three ES substrates with well-defined geometries (rectangular, concave, and E-shaped) were investigated (arranged in parallel) for their impact on fiber size, morphology, orientation, and cell behavior. The results indicate fiber alignment and orientation can be improved and modulated based on the substrate geometry. In addition, altering the interdistance space between various parallel substrates has a clear impact on fiber diameter size and alignment (random, aligned, and perpendicular orientation). Electric field simulations based on substrate geometries show greater probable regions of aligned electric field vectors and distribution, which indicates the most likely deposition attributes of electrospun PCL fibers. Fibrous PCL membranes were biocompatible, and cell growth and guidance were along the fiber path, with evidence of branching at intersecting fibers for multiaxial fibrous topographies. These findings show that the substrate geometry can be optimized to effectively assemble multiaxial layered and well-aligned fibers in a controlled fashion, which is ideal to support several application developments dependent on fiber topography, integrity, and morphology.

Designer fibers from 2D to 3D – Simultaneous and controlled engineering of morphology, shape and size

“…Samples were then washed with PBS, and visualized using an inverted fluorescence microscope (Nikon Ti-S, Japan). The experimental timescale (24 h) was according to previous studies [32,33], while staining procedure and dye inclusion were also followed based on previous studies [34,35].…”

“…Therefore, experimental protocol was based on this timescale [32,33]. In addition, staining procedure and dye inclusion were also followed based on previous studies [34,35].…”

Melt electrowriting onto anatomically relevant biodegradable substrates: Resurfacing a diarthrodial joint

“…It is known that the electrical field (EF), and its resulting electrical force, the main fibre pulling force in the MEW process, is affected by the collector design in both shape, dimension [ 24 ], and material properties [ 25 ], as well as by the instrument configuration and process parameters [ 26 – 28 ]. In particular, the electrical conductive properties of the collecting material, together with the processing parameters, i.e .…”

Controlled Morphing of Microbubbles to Beaded Nanofibers via Electrically Forced Thin Film Stretching

“…The ES apparatus and techniques for uniform fiber preparation have been described in previous publications [ 19 , 20 , 21 ]. As shown in Figure 1 , the ES apparatus consists of a high power voltage supply (Glassman high voltage Inc. High Bridge, series FC, NJ, USA), a high-precision programmable syringe pump (KDS100, KD Scientific, Holliston, MA, USA), and a stainless steel needle.…”