Solution Blow Spinning of Polycaprolactone-Rheological Determination of Spinnability and the Effect of Processing Conditions on Fiber Diameter and Alignment.

Katarzyna Czarnecka,Pawel Sajkiewicz,Tomasz Ciach,Michał Wojasiński

doi:10.3390/ma14061463

Abstract

The growing popularity of solution blow spinning as a method for the production of fibrous tissue engineering scaffolds and the vast range of polymer–solvent systems available for the method raises the need to study the effect of processing conditions on fiber morphology and develop a method for its qualitative assessment. Rheological approaches to determine polymer solution spinnability and image analysis approaches to describe fiber diameter and alignment have been previously proposed, although in a separate manner and mostly for the widely known, well-researched electrospinning method. In this study, a series of methods is presented to determine the processing conditions for the development of submicron fibrous scaffolds. Rheological methods are completed with extensive image analysis to determine the spinnability window for a polymer–solvent system and qualitatively establish the influence of polymer solution concentration and collector rotational speed on fiber morphology, diameter, and alignment. Process parameter selection for a tissue engineering scaffold target application is discussed, considering the varying structural properties of the native extracellular matrix of the tissue of interest.

Highlights

IntroductionPublisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations
This study aims to establish an easy-to-use, comprehensive protocol for the selection of solution blow spinning process parameters for the fabrication of non-woven fibrous mats with varying desired average fiber diameters and degrees of alignment, as well as uniform fiber morphology
The changes in zero shear viscosity in relation to the solution concentration were similar for both polymer molecular weights, with the differences between particular solution concentration regimes being more pronounced for the 80 kDa PCL, which is consistent with the theoretical explanation of the phenomenon being based on the macromolecular structure of the solution

Summary

Introduction

Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. Submicron fibers have been steadily gaining the interest of researchers and the industry alike [1]. The unique properties and tailorable microstructure of submicron fibers make them useful in a range of applications, such as wound dressings [2], drug delivery platforms [3,4], energy materials [5,6], sensors [7], and filtration materials [8,9,10]. Submicron fibers of biocompatible and biodegradable polymers are of particular interest in the field of tissue engineering and regenerative medicine [11,12]

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