Using mathematical modeling to control topographical properties of poly (ε-caprolactone) melt electrospun scaffolds

Abstract

Melt electrospinning creates fibrous scaffolds using direct deposition. The main challenge of melt electrospinning is controlling the topography of the scaffolds for tissue engineering applications. Mathematical modeling enables a better understanding of the parameters that determine the topography of scaffolds. The objective of this study is to build two types of mathematical models. First, we modeled the melt electrospinning process by incorporating parameters such as nozzle size, counter electrode distance and applied voltage that influence fiber diameter and scaffold porosity. Our second model describes the accumulation of the extruded microfibers on flat and round surfaces using data from the microfiber modeling. These models were validated through the use of experimentally obtained data. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was used to image the scaffolds and the fiber diameters were measured using Quartz-PCI Image Management Systems® in SEM to measure scaffold porosity.

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

“…In addition, Figure 9 (A: 80˚C) and (B: 120˚C) presents effects of temperature and linear transitional speed in porosity prediction at 200μm nozzle diameter, 20kV applied voltage and 5cm distance. The current model is able to predict porosity within average 5.5% difference from experimental results while the previous model [25] was able to predict porosity within average 10.2% difference.…”

“…The geometrical models for melt electrospinning process such as Taylor cone and straight jet were established in [25]. Furthermore, the microfiber extruded from droplet was geometrically defined as a funnel as shown in Figure 1.…”

“…and ̇= , where Young's modulus and dynamic viscosity = − ( :activation energy, R: gas constants) [25]. The gravity force and electrical force that act in the same direction of the flow the jet are calculated by:…”

“…Experimentally, many research papers have shown the effects of the fiber diameter, nozzle size and temperature on controlling topographical properties such as fiber diameter and porosity, and there are few mathematical models to promote the understanding of these effects [6,9,15,17,[23][24][25][26][27][28]. Following our previous work on mathematical modelling of melt electrospining [9,25], we believe that the understanding of the effects of these parameters on topography is possible and the results would be very helpful for engineers in the field to create microfibers with different morphologies by varying the parameters. In our previous work, the electrospun fiber's properties were fully explained by the geometrical models but scaffold models partially required experimental data to predict microfibers' morphology on counter electrode.…”

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].…”