Electrospinning P(LLA‐CL) Nanofiber: A Tubular Scaffold Fabrication with Circumferential Alignment

Abstract

AbstractIn this paper a synthetic Poly(L‐lactic‐co‐ϵ‐caprolactone) [P(LLA‐CL)] (75:25) copolymer has been fabricated into a nanofibrous structure by electrospinning. The polymer crystal structure has been investigated by DSC and x‐ray diffraction method. During electrospinning at room temperature, a crystallization of LLA sequence in the P(LLA‐CL) copolymer could not form, while a relatively regular arrangement of CL sequence was observed. In order to obtain a tubular scaffold, a rotating mandrel was designed to collect the fiber, so that the tubular scaffold can be retrieved from the mandrel with an inner diameter same as that of the outer diameter of the mandrel. An auxiliary electrode with a sharp edge and a negative charge was set under the mandrel to guide the fiber deposition on the mandrel. When the sharp edge bar was vertical to the rotating axle of the mandrel and just beneath the spinning nozzle, nanofibers with circumferential alignment were obtained. With this method it is possible to obtain a tubular scaffold with suitable fiber alignment for blood vessel tissue engineering.