State of the art composites comprising electrospun fibres coupled with hydrogels: a review

Reinforcement of hydrogels using three-dimensionally printed microfibres

“…Hydrogels have previously been reinforced with solutionelectrospun nonwovens 9,24,25,27 . However, most traditional solution-electrospun meshes have disadvantages from both a mechanical and biological point of view, for example, fibres are not fused and hence slide under loading meshes are usually not thicker than 100 m and have a pore size of less than 5 mm and are, therefore, too dense for cell infiltration 25,27,40 .…”

“…However, most traditional solution-electrospun meshes have disadvantages from both a mechanical and biological point of view, for example, fibres are not fused and hence slide under loading meshes are usually not thicker than 100 m and have a pore size of less than 5 mm and are, therefore, too dense for cell infiltration 25,27,40 . To overcome these issues related to traditional solution electrospinning, fibres have been collected in an earthed ethanol bath, yielding nonwovens with high porosities 9,24 .…”

“…The mechanical properties of hydrogels in such composites are less demanding; therefore, they can be processed with a low crosslink density, which is beneficial for cell migration and the formation of neo-tissue 2,3 . Recent composite systems include nonwoven scaffolds manufactured via solution-electrospinning techniques 9,[24][25][26][27] and scaffolds fabricated via 3D-printing [28][29][30][31][32][33] . Owing to the small fibre diameters that can be obtained, electrospun meshes have the potential to mimic native tissue extracellular matrix structures, including its mechanical properties.…”

Harnessing the Potential of Biomaterials for Brain Repair after Stroke

“…Synthetic material-derived electrospun scaffolds are attractive because their nanofibrous structure can recapitulate the microstructure of neural networks and can guide axons and neurites topographically (Schnell et al, 2007;Nisbet et al, 2009). Cell migration into these scaffolds is limited, but may be enhanced by inclusion of electrospun fibers in hydrogels, resulting in a cellpermissive scaffold that retains the biomimetic microstructure (Bosworth et al, 2013 (Pardridge, 2012). The small fraction of drugs that cross the BBB are often exported by surface transporters on the BBB, such as G-protein-coupled receptors (Misra et al, 2003).…”

Rational Design of Nanofiber Scaffolds for Orthopedic Tissue Repair and Regeneration

“…IVD is comprised of AF, NP and cartilage end plates. Perhaps a better design for scaffolds could consist of a combinatorial approach that can integrate hydrogel systems with electrospun nanofibers to fully recapitulate the native architecture of IVD [116]. More efforts should be devoted to testing developed nanofiber scaffolds for IVD regeneration in vivo .…”