Smart Electrospun Hybrid Nanofibers Functionalized with Ligand-Free Titanium Nitride (TiN) Nanoparticles for Tissue Engineering

Abstract

Herein, we report the fabrication and characterization of novel polycaprolactone (PCL)-based nanofibers functionalized with bare (ligand-free) titanium nitride (TiN) nanoparticles (NPs) for tissue engineering applications. Nanofibers were prepared by a newly developed protocol based on the electrospinning of PCL solutions together with TiN NPs synthesized by femtosecond laser ablation in acetone. The generated hybrid nanofibers were characterised using spectroscopy, microscopy, and thermal analysis techniques. As shown by scanning electron microscopy measurements, the fabricated electrospun nanofibers had uniform morphology, while their diameter varied between 0.403 ± 0.230 µm and 1.1 ± 0.15 µm by optimising electrospinning solutions and parameters. Thermal analysis measurements demonstrated that the inclusion of TiN NPs in nanofibers led to slight variation in mass degradation initiation and phase change behaviour (Tm). In vitro viability tests using the incubation of 3T3 fibroblast cells in a nanofiber-based matrix did not reveal any adverse effects, confirming the biocompatibility of hybrid nanofiber structures. The generated hybrid nanofibers functionalized with plasmonic TiN NPs are promising for the development of smart scaffold for tissue engineering platforms and open up new avenues for theranostic applications.

Photothermal heating of titanium nitride nanomaterials for fast and uniform laser warming of cryopreserved biomaterials

“…In addition, HDF cells are widely used in the cryobiology field ( Balasubramanian, Bischof and Hubel, 2006 ; Balasubramanian, Wolkers and Bischof, 2009 ; Choi and Bischof, 2011 , Choi and Bischof, 2013 ). Despite the increasing research of TiN nanomaterials for biotechnology applications, no toxicity study of TiN NPs on HDF cells exists and current literature regarding their toxicity is very limited ( He et al, 2017 ; Kim et al, 2019 ; Popov et al, 2019 ; Nirwan et al, 2021 ).…”

Advances in Electrospun Hybrid Nanofibers for Biomedical Applications

“…After the optimization of electrospinning parameters, functionalized nanofibers were obtained, as shown in [ 157 ], containing TiNPs fabricated using the laser ablation procedure described [ 99 ]. A high concentration of 20% ( w / v ) PCL in dichloromethane/acetone (3:2) ( v / v ) provided bead-free and smooth nanofibers (400 nm to around 1 micron).…”

“…TiN NPs seemed to act as heating spots in the nanofibers. However, no drastic changes were observed with a changing concentration of TiN NPs themselves in a nanofiber matrix [ 157 ]. Finally, biological compatibility tests were performed to test cytotoxicity, adhesion, and metabolic activity using mouse 3T3 fibroblasts as a standard cell line, as shown in Figure 1 .…”

“…The proliferation of cells observed through the amount of dsDNA, after remaining stable until day 10, increased significantly on day 15 for all samples. Cells showed a good adhesion to scaffolds; however, there are still further improvements required in nanofibers’ surfaces ( Figure 6 ) [ 157 ]. In the end, the viability of cells measured through live/dead staining showed no statistical difference.…”

Short-Pulse Lasers: A Versatile Tool in Creating Novel Nano-/Micro-Structures and Compositional Analysis for Healthcare and Wellbeing Challenges

“…Another electrospun-polymer formulation based on polycaprolactone is now explored in combination with plasmonic NPs (e.g., TiNNPs). In fact, in addition to its biocompatibility and biodegradability properties, such polymers exhibit great stability in wet medium without any post-stabilization treatment (e.g., neutralization), which permits a long biological study and promising developments of smart scaffolds for tissue engineering aiming theranostic applications (Figure 4a,b) [95].…”