Biomedical Applications of Electrospun Polymer and Carbon Fibers ,

Abstract

Electrospinning is a well-known technique for large-scale fabrication of polymer and carbon fibers. The flexibility of tuning the material and process parameters to enable nano-scale fiber fabrication has further contributed to the popularity of this technique in the last two decades. Individual and bulk electrospun fiber mats and bundles are widely used in a range of applications including the preparation of smart fabrics, composite materials, micro and nano devices, drug delivery vehicles, and various types of membranes. In this article, our focus is on the biomedical applications that directly or indirectly utilize electrospun polymer and polymer-derived carbon fibers. We provide a targeted review of recent articles relevant to the field, and discuss major methodologies of employing electrospun fibers in biological, and biomedical applications. The article is divided into two main sections, namely, (1) polymer and polymer-derived carbon fibers (CFs) and (2) their applications. Polymer fibers with a high carbon content can be converted into 98%–99% carbon via pyrolysis process. Such CFs are extensively used for manufacturing composite materials, which are replacing metal-based composites in a variety of biomedical applications, mainly, implant fabrication. In view of the emerging interests, a brief description of the CF-based composites is also provided.