Multi-functional electrospun nanofibres for advances in tissue regeneration, energy conversion & storage, and water treatment

Abstract

Tissue regeneration, energy conversion & storage, and water treatment are some of the most critical challenges facing humanity in the 21st century. In order to address such challenges, one-dimensional (1D) materials are projected to play a key role in developing emerging solutions for the increasingly complex problems. Eletrospinning technology has been demonstrated to be a simple, versatile, and cost-effective method in fabricating a rich variety of materials with 1D nanostructures. These include polymers, composites, and inorganic materials with unique chemical and physical properties. In this tutorial review, we first give a brief introduction to electrospun materials with a special emphasis on the design, fabrication, and modification of 1D functional materials. Adopting the perspective of chemists and materials scientists, we then focus on the recent significant progress made in the domains of tissue regeneration (e.g., skin, nerve, heart and bone) and conversion & storage of clean energy (e.g., solar cells, fuel cells, batteries, and supercapacitors), where nanofibres have been used as active nanomaterials. Furthermore, this review's scope also includes the advances in the use of electrospun materials for the removal of heavy metal ions, organic pollutants, gas and bacteria in water treatment applications. Finally a conclusion and perspective is provided, in which we discuss the remaining challenges for 1D electrospun nanomaterials in tissue regeneration, energy conversion & storage, and water treatment.

An Enhanced UV–Vis–NIR an d Flexible Photodetector Based on Electrospun ZnO Nanowire Array/PbS Quantum Dots Film Heterostructure

“…Electrospinning is a facile and cheap method to fabricate various size of NWs on a large scale, which has been widely utilized for tissue regeneration, energy conversion and storage, and water treatment, etc 30, 31. Furthermore, through simple modification, electrospinning can achieve highly ordered nanowire arrays (NWA) on various substrates as well 32.…”

General Synthesis of Transition Metal Oxide Ultrafine Nanoparticles Embedded in Hierarchically Porous Carbon Nanofibers as Advanced Electrodes for Lithium Storage

“…[34,35] Recent works have demonstrated that electrospinning is becoming a versatile, simple, cost-effective, and scalable strategy for producing 1D nanostructures, which possess many outstanding properties, including good mechanical strength, excellent flexibility, superior electrical conductivity, and large surface area to volume ratios. [37][38][39][40][41] Nevertheless, a relatively high carbon content resulting from the carbonization of as-electrospun polymers and lack of sufficient porosity could block the diffusion paths of the electrolytes and ions during charge/discharge processes, leading to decreased power and energy. [6,42] Moreover, particles of TMOs tend to grow and aggregate during carbonization of polymeric nanofibers and are usually located on the surfaces of the nanofibers, which is potentially harmful to the formation of a stable solid electrolyte interphase (SEI) layer and results in unsatisfactory electrochemical performance.…”

Preparation of a nano- and micro-fibrous decellularized scaffold seeded with autologous mesenchymal stem cells for inguinal hernia repair

“…[26][27][28] Nanobiomaterials have been considered better candidates than the traditional tissue engineering scaffolds because these nanoscale biomaterials can effectively mimic the characters of natural tissues, in which cells directly contact their surrounding nanoscale ECM, which exerts a key role in supplying mechanical support, directing cell adhesion and growth, as well as regulating tissue development, homeostasis, and regeneration. 29,30 In the interest of simulating more chemical and biological components of the natural ECM, various electrospun nanoscale scaffolds have been fabricated to imitate the topography of natural ECM for tissue engineering and regenerative medicine.…”