Controlled Morphing of Microbubbles to Beaded Nanofibers via Electrically Forced Thin Film Stretching.

Zhi-Cheng Yao,Zeeshan Ahmad,Jie Huang,Qiantailang Yuan,Ming-Wei Chang,Jing-Song Li

doi:10.3390/polym9070265

Abstract

Topography and microstructure engineering are rapidly evolving areas of importance for biomedical and pharmaceutical remits. Here, PVA (Polyvinyl alcohol) microbubbles (diameter range ~126 to 414 μm) were used to fabricate beaded (beads-on) nanofibers using an electrohydrodynamic atomization (EHDA) technique. Mean fiber diameter, inter-bead distance, and aspect ratio (AR) were investigated by regulating EHDA process parameters. PVA fibers (diameter range ~233 to 737 nm) were obtained possessing bead ARs in the range of ~10 to 56%. AR was used to modulate hydrophilicity and active release.

Highlights

IntroductionNear uniform fibers (as opposed to those exhibiting broader irregularities) have been preferred for pharmaceutical and biomaterial applications such as drug delivery [1], wound healing [2], and food preservation [3]
To date, near uniform fibers have been preferred for pharmaceutical and biomaterial applications such as drug delivery [1], wound healing [2], and food preservation [3]
A microbubble suspension was selected as the process medium, with subsequent morphing of porous thin-film spherical structures to beaded fibers through electrically driven stretching

Summary

Introduction

Near uniform fibers (as opposed to those exhibiting broader irregularities) have been preferred for pharmaceutical and biomaterial applications such as drug delivery [1], wound healing [2], and food preservation [3]. A greater preference for fibrous materials is emerging, which provides options to tailor physical and mechanical properties with greater ease. Fiber structure diversification through ES has been shown by the engineering of Janus, twisted, and core-shell structures [6,7,8]. In addition to these structures, beads-on (or beaded) fibers are emerging as valuable architectures, even though the uniformity of such materials is significantly different to their perfectly electrospun counterparts [9]

Methods

Results

Conclusion