Mathematical model for predicting topographical properties of poly (ε-caprolactone) melt electrospun scaffolds including the effects of temperature and linear transitional speed

Abstract

Melt electrospinning can be used to fabricate various fibrous biomaterial scaffolds with a range of mechanical properties and varying topographical properties for different applications such as tissue scaffold and filtration and etc., making it a powerful technique. Engineering the topography of such electrospun microfibers can be easily done by tuning the operational parameters of this process. Recent experimental studies have shown promising results for fabricating various topographies, but there is not that body of work that focuses on using mathematical models of this technique to further understand the effect of operational parameters on these properties of microfiber scaffolds. In this study, we developed a novel mathematical model using numerical simulations to demonstrate the effect of temperature, feed rate and flow rate on controlling topographical properties such as fiber diameter of these spun fibrous scaffolds. These promising modelling results are also compared to our previous and current experimental results. Overall, we show that our novel mathematical model can predict the topographical properties affected by key operational parameters such as change in temperature, flow rate and feed rate and this model could serve as a promising strategy for the controlling of topographical properties of such structures for different applications.

Fabricating and controlling PCL electrospun microfibers using filament feeding melt electrospinning technique

“…Due to its critical role in the production of three dimensional (3D) structures, such fiber fabrication technologies have opened new avenues, specifically for designing novel and smart fibrous structures with various functionalities and engineered properties [9][10][11][12][13][14]. For instance, 3D fibrous structures have been shown to be extremely promising in fabricating tissue-engineered structures for governing the fate of stem cells for many therapeutic applications [5,6,[15][16][17][18]. The most common fiber process engineering techniques include solution electrospinning, melt electrospinning, melt blowing, fused deposition three-dimensional (3D) printing, and the combinations of different methods to further excel the technology [5,6,16,[19][20][21][22][23].…”

“…For instance, 3D fibrous structures have been shown to be extremely promising in fabricating tissue-engineered structures for governing the fate of stem cells for many therapeutic applications [5,6,[15][16][17][18]. The most common fiber process engineering techniques include solution electrospinning, melt electrospinning, melt blowing, fused deposition three-dimensional (3D) printing, and the combinations of different methods to further excel the technology [5,6,16,[19][20][21][22][23]. Solution electrospinning uses a high applied voltage on a polymer solution to stretch out nanofibers with different topographies and porosity, while melt electrospinning leads to the production of mostly microfibers [5-7, 16, 24].…”

Commercializing Electrospun Scaffolds For Pluripotent Stem Cell-Based Tissue Engineering Applications

“…These applications include culturing fibroblasts and engineering replacements for damaged tendons. The Willerth lab in collaboration with Dr. Martin Jun's research group at Purdue University used a customized melt electrospinning setup to fabricate electrospun scaffolds with novel topographies for promoting the differentiation of PSCs into neural tissue [59,69,70,[92][93][94][95][96]. Such scaffolds can be designed and fabricated to meet needs of the consumer by altering parameters like needle size, collection distance and voltage field, which can be tuned to meet specifications provided by a customer [46].…”

A Novel Theoretical Model Development and Simulation of Melt‐Electrospinning Using Kane's and Udwadia–Kalaba Methods

“…The bending instabilities under such configuration are noticeably absent, resulting in a well aligned fiber topology that is easily controlled by the motion of the spinneret relative to the collector plate. [ 13,14 ] Compared to solution‐electrospinning, melt‐electrospinning (see Figure 1b) is distinctly characterized by significantly dampened whipping motions. Dalton and Brown [ 8,15 ] have experimentally investigated the effects of the processing parameters and the transverse speed of the collector plate on fiber alignments in melt‐electrospinning.…”