Electrospinning is a versatile and viable technique for generating ultrathin fibers. Remarkable progress has been made with regard to the development of electrospinning methods and engineering of electrospun nanofibers to suit or enable various applications. We aim to provide a comprehensive overview of electrospinning, including the principle, methods, materials, and applications. We begin with a brief introduction to the early history of electrospinning, followed by discussion of its principle and typical apparatus. We then discuss its renaissance over the past two decades as a powerful technology for the production of nanofibers with diversified compositions, structures, and properties. Afterward, we discuss the applications of electrospun nanofibers, including their use as "smart" mats, filtration membranes, catalytic supports, energy harvesting/conversion/storage components, and photonic and electronic devices, as well as biomedical scaffolds. We highlight the most relevant and recent advances related to the applications of electrospun nanofibers by focusing on the most representative examples. We also offer perspectives on the challenges, opportunities, and new directions for future development. At the end, we discuss approaches to the scale-up production of electrospun nanofibers and briefly discuss various types of commercial products based on electrospun nanofibers that have found widespread use in our everyday life.

Electrospinning and Electrospun Nanofibers: Methods, Materials, and Applications

Utilization of polymers as biomaterials has greatly impacted the advancement of modern medicine. Specifically, polymeric biomaterials that are biodegradable provide the significant advantage of being able to be broken down and removed after they have served their function. Applications are wide ranging with degradable polymers being used clinically as surgical sutures and implants. In order to fit functional demand, materials with desired physical, chemical, biological, biomechanical and degradation properties must be selected. Fortunately, a wide range of natural and synthetic degradable polymers has been investigated for biomedical applications with novel materials constantly being developed to meet new challenges. This review summarizes the most recent advances in the field over the past 4 years, specifically highlighting new and interesting discoveries in tissue engineering and drug delivery applications.

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Biomedical Applications of Biodegradable Polymers

ConspectusElectrospinning is a simple and versatile technique that relies on the electrostatic repulsion between surface charges to continuously draw nanofibers from a viscoelastic fluid. It has been applied to successfully produce nanofibers, with diameters down to tens of nanometers, from a rich variety of materials, including polymers, ceramics, small molecules, and their combinations. In addition to solid nanofibers with a smooth surface, electrospinning has also been adapted to generate nanofibers with a number of secondary structures, including those characterized by a porous, hollow, or core–sheath structure. The surface and/or interior of such nanofibers can be further functionalized with molecular species or nanoparticles during or after an electrospinning process. In addition, electrospun nanofibers can be assembled into ordered arrays or hierarchical structures by manipulation of their alignment, stacking, and/or folding. All of these attributes make electrospun nanofibers well-suited for a bro...

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Electrospun Nanofibers: New Concepts, Materials, and Applications

Functional regeneration beyond the glial scar.

Bioprinting is an emerging technique used to fabricate viable, 3D tissue constructs through the precise deposition of cells and hydrogels in a layer-by-layer fashion. Despite the ability to mimic the native properties of tissue, printed 3D constructs that are composed of naturally-derived biomaterials still lack structural integrity and adequate mechanical properties for use in vivo, thus limiting their development for use in load-bearing tissue engineering applications, such as cartilage. Fabrication of viable constructs using a novel multi-head deposition system provides the ability to combine synthetic polymers, which have higher mechanical strength than natural materials, with the favorable environment for cell growth provided by traditional naturally-derived hydrogels. However, the complexity and high cost associated with constructing the required robotic system hamper the widespread application of this approach. Moreover, the scaffolds fabricated by these robotic systems often lack flexibility, which further restrict their applications. To address these limitations, advanced fabrication techniques are necessary to generate complex constructs with controlled architectures and adequate mechanical properties. In this study, we describe the construction of a hybrid inkjet printing/electrospinning system that can be used to fabricate viable tissues for cartilage tissue engineering applications. Electrospinning of polycaprolactone fibers was alternated with inkjet printing of rabbit elastic chondrocytes suspended in a fibrin-collagen hydrogel in order to fabricate a five-layer tissue construct of 1 mm thickness. The chondrocytes survived within the printed hybrid construct with more than 80% viability one week after printing. In addition, the cells proliferated and maintained their basic biological properties within the printed layered constructs. Furthermore, the fabricated constructs formed cartilage-like tissues both in vitro and in vivo as evidenced by the deposition of type II collagen and glycosaminoglycans. Moreover, the printed hybrid scaffolds demonstrated enhanced mechanical properties compared to printed alginate or fibrin-collagen gels alone. This study demonstrates the feasibility of constructing a hybrid inkjet printing system using off-the-shelf components to produce cartilage constructs with improved biological and mechanical properties.

https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1758-5082/5/1/015001/pdf

Hybrid printing of mechanically and biologically improved constructs for cartilage tissue engineering applications

Aligned, electrospun polymer fibers have shown considerable promise in directing regenerating axons in vitro and in vivo. However, in several studies, final electrospinning parameters are presented for producing aligned fiber scaffolds, and alignment where minimal fiber crossing occurs is not achieved. Highly aligned species are necessary for neural tissue engineering applications to ensure that axonal extension occurs through a regenerating environment efficiently. Axonal outgrowth on fibers that deviate from the natural axis of growth may delay axonal extension from one end of a scaffold to the other. Therefore, producing aligned fiber scaffolds with little fiber crossing is essential. In this study, the contributions of four electrospinning parameters (collection disk rotation speed, needle size, needle tip shape and syringe pump flow rate) were investigated thoroughly with the goal of finding parameters to obtain highly aligned electrospun fibers made from poly-L-lactic acid (PLLA). Using an 8 wt% PLLA solution in chloroform, a collection disk rotation speed of 1000 revolutions per minute (rpm), a 22 gauge, sharp-tip needle and a syringe pump rate of 2 ml h(-1) produced highly aligned fiber (1.2-1.6 microm in diameter) scaffolds verified using a fast Fourier transform and a fiber alignment quantification technique. Additionally, the application of an insulating sheath around the needle tip improved the rate of fiber deposition (electrospinning efficiency). Optimized scaffolds were then evaluated in vitro using embryonic stage nine (E9) chick dorsal root ganglia (DRGs) and rat Schwann cells (SCs). To demonstrate the importance of creating highly aligned scaffolds to direct neurite outgrowth, scaffolds were created that contained crossing fibers. Neurites on these scaffolds were directed down the axis of the aligned fibers, but neurites also grew along the crossed fibers. At times, these crossed fibers even stopped further axonal extension. Highly aligned PLLA fibers generated under optimized electrospinning conditions guided neurite and SC growth along the aligned fibers. Schwann cells demonstrated the bipolar phenotype seen along the fibers. Using a novel technique to determine fiber density, an increase in fiber density correlated to an increase in the number of neurites, but average neurite length was not statistically different between the two different fiber densities. Together, this work presents methods by which to produce highly aligned fiber scaffolds efficiently and techniques for assessing neurite outgrowth on different fiber scaffolds, while suggesting that crossing fibers may be detrimental in fostering efficient, directed axonal outgrowth.

https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1741-2560/6/1/016001/pdf

Creation of highly aligned electrospun poly-L-lactic acid fibers for nerve regeneration applications.

Varying the diameter of aligned electrospun fibers alters neurite outgrowth and Schwann cell migration.

Robust CNS regeneration after complete spinal cord transection using aligned poly-L-lactic acid microfibers.

Biomaterial guides for lymphatic endothelial cell alignment and migration.

Tendon tissue connects muscle to bone and plays crucial roles in stress transfer. Tendon injury remains a significant clinical challenge due to its complicated biological structure and poor self-healing capacity. The treatments for tendon injury have advanced significantly with the development of technology, including the use of sophisticated biomaterials, bioactive growth factors, and numerous stem cells. Among these, biomaterials that the mimic extracellular matrix (ECM) of tendon tissue would provide a resembling microenvironment to improve efficacy in tendon repair and regeneration. In this review, we will begin with a description of the constituents and structural features of tendon tissue, followed by a focus on the available biomimetic scaffolds of natural or synthetic origin for tendon tissue engineering. Finally, we will discuss novel strategies and present challenges in tendon regeneration and repair.

Han Bing Wang

Papers

Creation of highly aligned electrospun poly-L-lactic acid fibers for nerve regeneration applications.

Varying the diameter of aligned electrospun fibers alters neurite outgrowth and Schwann cell migration.

Robust CNS regeneration after complete spinal cord transection using aligned poly-L-lactic acid microfibers.

Biomaterial guides for lymphatic endothelial cell alignment and migration.

Biomimetic Scaffolds for Tendon Tissue Regeneration