Polymeric Nanofibers for Drug Delivery Applications: A Recent Review

Abstract

With the rapid development of biomaterials and biotechnologies, various functional materials-based drug delivery systems (DDS) are developed to overcome the limitations of traditional drug release formulations, such as uncontrollable drug concentration in target organs/tissues and unavoidable adverse reactions. Polymer nanofibers exhibit promising characteristics including easy preparation, adjustable features of wettability and elasticity, tailored surface and interface properties, and surface-to-volume ratio, and are used to develop new DDS. Different kinds of drugs can be incorporated into the polymer nanofibers. Additionally, their release kinetics can be modulated via the preparation components, component proportions, and preparation processes, enabling their applications in several fields. A timely and comprehensive summary of polymeric nanofibers for DDS is thus highly needed. This review first describes the common methods for polymer nanofiber fabrication, followed by introducing controlled techniques for drug loading into and release from polymer nanofibers. Thus, the applications of polymer nanofibers in drug delivery were summarized, particularly focusing on the relation between the physiochemical properties of polymeric nanofibers and their DDS performance. It is ended by listing future perspectives.

Study of Thermal Safety Characteristics of Nanoscale Nitrocellulose/Stabilizer Composite Materials

“…Currently, the preparation methods for nanofibers mainly include melt-blown method, template synthesis, self-assembly method, direct stretching method, wet spinning method, electrostatic spinning method, centrifugal jet spinning method, plasma-induced synthesis, pressurized spinning, solution blowing spinning, and other methods. Due to the huge surface area to volume ratio of electrospinning nanofibers, it is the most extensively utilized approach for preparing polymer nanofibers (Duan et al 2022). The fibers prepared by electrospinning generally have diameters between several nanometers and micrometers, not only with the advantages of small size and high specific surface area but also with good mechanical stability, high modulus of elasticity and other characteristics (Song et al 2020).…”

Nanofiber-Based Systems for Stimuli-Responsive and Dual Drug Delivery: Present Scenario and the Way Forward

“…Some of the extensively used processes for the fabrication of nanofibers are electrospinning, centrifugal spinning, solution blowing, and microbial-assisted processes as depicted in Figure . However, a few novel fiber-forming approaches have been seen as a modified form of these above-mentioned processes or taking advantage of more than one process; these are also briefly discussed in this section.…”

Simultaneous Presentation of Dexamethasone and Nerve Growth Factor via Layered Carbon Nanotubes and Polypyrrole to Interface Neural Cells

“…Conducting polymers (CPs), such as polypyrrole (PPy) and poly­(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT), are regarded as promising candidates for neural engineering due to their excellent conductivity, biocompatibility, stability, and capabilities to be tailored into various nanostructures on microscale electrodes. , Increased electrode sensitivity and selectivity have been observed from CP-modified neural electrodes via in vivo and in vitro studies. , In our previous studies, significantly lower interfacial impedance, higher charge transfer capability, increased electrochemical stability, and better cell-electrode integration have been obtained from electrodes modified with nanostructured coatings consisting of conductive polymers and/or carbon nanotubes (CNTs). − Besides, anti-inflammatory drugs, nerve growth factor (NGF), proteins, enzymes, DNA, peptides, and other bioactive molecules can be simply incorporated into or linked to the conductive polymer films to create new biological systems with desired functions …”

“…24−27 Besides, anti-inflammatory drugs, nerve growth factor (NGF), proteins, enzymes, DNA, peptides, and other bioactive molecules can be simply incorporated into or linked to the conductive polymer films to create new biological systems with desired functions. 28 In the present study, a novel functional conducting coating was developed to simultaneously present the anti-inflammatory drug and nerve-protective biomolecule on the neural electrode surface to control inflammatory reactions and promote neural cell growth. The electrochemical properties of functional coatings were studied by using the three-electrode systems, while the surface morphology and composition were determined.…”