Abstract
Herein, we report the fabrication and characterization of novel polycaprolactone (PCL)-based nanofibers functionalized with bare (ligand-free) titanium nitride (TiN) nanoparticles (NPs) for tissue engineering applications. Nanofibers were prepared by a newly developed protocol based on the electrospinning of PCL solutions together with TiN NPs synthesized by femtosecond laser ablation in acetone. The generated hybrid nanofibers were characterised using spectroscopy, microscopy, and thermal analysis techniques. As shown by scanning electron microscopy measurements, the fabricated electrospun nanofibers had uniform morphology, while their diameter varied between 0.403 ± 0.230 µm and 1.1 ± 0.15 µm by optimising electrospinning solutions and parameters. Thermal analysis measurements demonstrated that the inclusion of TiN NPs in nanofibers led to slight variation in mass degradation initiation and phase change behaviour (Tm). In vitro viability tests using the incubation of 3T3 fibroblast cells in a nanofiber-based matrix did not reveal any adverse effects, confirming the biocompatibility of hybrid nanofiber structures. The generated hybrid nanofibers functionalized with plasmonic TiN NPs are promising for the development of smart scaffold for tissue engineering platforms and open up new avenues for theranostic applications.
Highlights
Nanofibers functionalized by silver (Ag) and copper (Cu) NPs were shown to exhibit antibacterial activity and used as extracellular matrices (ECM) to promote wound healing and tissue engineering [17], while gold (Au) NPs are often used as additives to improve the mechanical properties of nanofibers, promote protein adsorption and cell adhesion, and reduce bacterial colonization [18,19,20]
We report on the successful electrospinning of PCL together with lasersynthesized titanium nitride (TiN) NPs at various ratios in order to fabricate a novel hierarchical hybrid nanofiber platform for tissue engineering
Several nanofiber formulations based on PCL solutions were prepared by electrospinning and examined using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) to optimize the parameters of nanofibers before their functionalization with TiN NPs
Summary
Hybrid nanofibers fabricated via electrospinning can provide numerous advantages over counterparts prepared using conventional techniques, including the possibility of using bio-degradable natural or synthetic polymers [4,5] or conductive polymers such as poly(ferrocenylphosphinoboranes) (when blended with traditional synthetic polymer such as polystyrene) [6], good control of nanofiber dimensions, and capability of incorporating multiple drugs (even if they are hydrophobic) [6,7,8] These attractive properties stimulate the development of novel nanofiber formulations and their functionalization for a variety of applications ranging from antimicrobial action to biosensing and tissue grafting [9,10,11,12,13]. Since most inorganic nanomaterials are fabricated by chemical methods, implying the use of various reagents and stabilizing agents, they are often contaminated by hazardous by-products, complicating their applications in biological systems [21]
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