4 - Structuring of electrospun nanofiber mats by 3D printing methods

Abstract

Electrospinning is significantly one of the simple and versatile methods for producing micro- and nanofibrous scaffolds. Its assembly can be modified in different ways to combine material properties with different morphological structures for diverse applications ranging from tissue engineering to nanocomposite fabrication; however, electrospun nanofibers are generally deposited as a randomly oriented mat on a flat collector that limits their applications. In electrospinning process, collector design plays an important role to determine the nanofiber orientation in electrospun nanoweb. The aim of this chapter is to highlight several methods to control the arrangement of 2D/3D nanofibers, such as the use of a mechanical device and parallel electrode collectors. Subsequently, additive manufacturing (AM) methods are presented to describe different methods to achieve various geometries of collectors to be used to produce complex nanofibrous architectures during electrospinning. Finally, our work will be described as a novel method, combining electrospinning and 3D printing technology to produce patterned scaffold consisting oriented and random nanofibers. 3D patterned scaffolds were produced by electrospinning of polyamide 66/formic acid solution on different 3D collectors that have been obtained. The attachment of the chondrocyte cells on the prepared electrospun scaffolds, which have different types of nanofiber orientations that could be used in tissue engineering applications, was investigated.