Decrease In Fiber Diameter Research Articles

Effect of dietary fish oil intake on ubiquitin ligase expression during muscle atrophy induced by sciatic nerve denervation in mice.

Dietary fish oil intake improves muscle atrophy in several atrophy models however the effect on denervation-induced muscle atrophy is not clear. Thus, the aim of this study was to investigate the effects of dietary fish oil intake on muscle atrophy and the expression of muscle atrophy markers induced by sciatic nerve denervation in mice. We performed histological and quantitative mRNA expression analysis of muscle atrophy markers in mice fed with fish oil with sciatic nerve denervation. Histological analysis indicated that dietary fish oil intake slightly prevented the decrease of muscle fiber diameter induced by denervation treatment. In addition, dietary fish oil intake suppressed the MuRF1 (tripartite motif-containing 63) expression up-regulated by denervation treatment, and this was due to decreased tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) production in skeletal muscle. We concluded that dietary fish oil intake suppressed MuRF1 expression by decreasing TNF-α production during muscle atrophy induced by sciatic nerve denervation in mice.

Pyridine as an additive to improve the deposition of continuous electrospun filaments.

Electrospun filaments are leading to a new generation of medical yarns that have the ability to enhance tissue healing through their biophysical cues. We have recently developed a technology to fabricate continuous electrospun filaments by depositing the submicron fibres onto a thin wire. Here we investigate the influence of pyridine on the fibre deposition. We have added pyridine to polydioxanone solutions at concentrations ranging from 0 to 100 ppm, increasing the conductivity of the solutions almost linearly from 0.04 uS/cm to 7 uS/cm. Following electrospinning, this led to deposition length increasing from 1 cm to 14 cm. The samples containing pyridine easily underwent cold drawing. The strength of drawn filaments increased from 0.8 N to 1.5 N and this corresponded to a decrease in fibre diameter, with values dropping from 2.7 μm to 1 μm. Overall, these findings are useful to increase the reliability of the manufacturing process of continuous electrospun filaments and to vary their biophysical properties required for their application as medical yarns such as surgical sutures.

Dependence of the fiber diameter on quality factor of filters fabricated with meta-aramid nanofibers

Bag filters are generally used to remove particulate matter from the dust-laden flue gas exhausted from combustors. Recently, great effort has been expended to improve the performance of bag filters by coating the filter surface with nanofibers. In this study, meta-aramid nanofibers with high thermal durability were produced by an electrospinning process, and the effect of fiber diameter on the filter quality factor was theoretically and experimentally investigated. Electrospun filters with mean fiber sizes of 333 nm and 569 nm were successfully prepared by controlling the electrospinning parameters. The filters had high mechanical and chemical durability, as per the results of thermogravimetric analyzer (TGA), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier-transform infrared (FT-IR), and a tensile strength analyses. In addition, the particle collection efficiency and pressure drop of the filters increased as the fiber diameter decreased. The filter quality factor, determined by the relationship between the collection efficiency and the pressure drop, increased slightly with the decrease in fiber diameter, although the experimental results were slightly different from the theoretical results.

Antibacterial screening studies of electrospun Polycaprolactone nano fibrous mat containing Clerodendrum phlomidis leaves extract

We report the design of electrospun poly caprolactone (PCL) nano fibrous mat containing ethyl acetate extract of medicinal plant Clerodendrum phlomidis L.F (CP). Non polar solvent extract of Clerodendrum phlomidis leaf analyzed for their phytochemical components and chemical identification by GC–MS analysis. More than 40 phyto constituents were identified and the major components found to be terpenoids, flavonoids, phytol, hexadecanoic acid and palmitic acid. SEM images revealed there was a substantial decrease in PCL fiber diameter from 400 to 300 nm upon CP addition. HRTEM analysis corroborates well with the SEM results obtained. X-ray diffraction (XRD), UV–visible spectroscopy (UV–vis), and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy confirmed the CP incorporation into the matrix. Water contact angle measurement showed with the addition of CP, there was an increase in wettability of the PCL fibers without affecting their mechanical properties. TGA studies showed the as spun mats were thermally stable. Antibacterial studies were investigated against the predominant pathogenic gram positive and gram negative bacteria: Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Salmonella Typhi and Escherichia coli. The releasing studies for a period of 60 h was conducted and results showed that initial burst release within first 8 h and slow release was continued over a prolonged period of time. Overall results proved that the prepared mats can find its potential application in the field of antimicrobial wound dressings and antioxidant activity.

Dissipative particle dynamics simulations of centrifugal melt electrospinning

The fibers obtained by centrifugal melt electrospinning exhibit high production efficiency, controllable morphology, and excellent mechanical properties. Therefore, centrifugal electrospinning technology is in alignment with the industrial development trend of superfine fiber preparation. However, during the rapid development of this new spin method, some fundamental understanding of the relationships between the fiber performance and centrifugal force, electric field force, and gravity is unclear. In this study, the effect of the spin factors on the fiber properties (diameter, yield, and molecular chain formation) is investigated by dissipative particle dynamics simulation. The results show that in an electrostatic field, if the rotating speed, temperature, and electric field intensity increases, the fiber diameter decreases, and fiber productivity and chain length increase. In a pulsed electric field, the fiber diameter is very small when the duty ratio is 70% and the chain length is long when the duty ratio is 100%. However, as the frequency increases, the fiber diameter decreases sharply, whereas the chain length increases gradually. When the fiber drops rapidly, the chain length generally becomes longer with increasing steps. The above knowledge of the fiber performance and spin factors will contribute significantly to obtain high-quality fibers using centrifugal melt electrospinning.

Electrospun Combination of Peppermint Oil and Copper Sulphate with Conducive Physico-Chemical properties for Wound Dressing Applications.

The ultimate goal in tissue engineering is to fabricate a scaffold which could mimic the native tissue structure. In this work, the physicochemical and biocompatibility properties of electrospun composites based on polyurethane (PU) with added pepper mint (PM) oil and copper sulphate (CuSO4) were investigated. Field Emission Electron microscope (FESEM) study depicted the increase in mean fiber diameter for PU/PM and decrease in fiber diameter for PU/PM/CuSO4 compared to the pristine PU. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) analysis revealed the formation of a hydrogen bond for the fabricated composites as identified by an alteration in PU peak intensity. Contact angle analysis presented the hydrophobic nature of pristine PU and PU/PM while the PU/PM/CuSO4 showed hydrophilic behavior. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) analysis revealed the increase in the surface roughness for the PU/PM while PU/PM/CuSO4 showed a decrease in surface roughness compared to the pristine PU. Blood compatibility studies showed improved blood clotting time and less toxic behavior for the developed composites than the pristine PU. Finally, the cell viability of the fabricated composite was higher than the pristine PU as indicated in the MTS assay. Hence, the fabricated wound dressing composite based on PU with added PM and CuSO4 rendered a better physicochemical and biocompatible nature, making it suitable for wound healing applications.

Evaluation of physical, mechanical and biological properties of poly 3-hydroxybutyrate-chitosan-multiwalled carbon nanotube/silk nano-micro composite scaffold for cartilage tissue engineering applications.

Nano-micro scaffolds are developed for long-term healing tissue engineering like cartilage. The poly 3-hydroxybutyrate (P3HB)-chitosan/silk and P3HB-chitosan-1 wt% multi-walled carbon nanotubes functionalized by COOH (MWNTs)/silk nano-micro scaffolds are fabricated through electrospinning the solution on a knitted silk which is saturated (S) or unsaturated (U) with P3HB as a mediator to enhance the interaction at nano/microinterface. Consuming MWNTs lead to a decrease in fiber diameter, while an increase in specific surface area, tensile strength and bioactivity properties. The saturation condition as well as MWNTs leads to intensification in the hydrophilicity properties. The nanolayer in all scaffolds lead to an increase in tensile strength in comparison with the pure knitted silk. The scaffold containing MWNTs showed slower degradation rate. MWNTs beside the chitosan and silk provide an appropriate environment for attachment and growth of chondrocytes. The P3HB-chitosan-MWNTs/silk (S) nano-microscaffold can be appropriate for a long-term tissue engineering application like cartilage.

Effect on in-vitro release of individual and dual contraceptive drug loading from gelatin electrospun fibers

The transdermal route of drug administration provides many advantages for delivering a wide variety of drugs or other beneficial agents. The aim of this work was to investigate the suitability of electrospinning process to develop a drug delivery system for two contraceptive drugs levonorgestrel (LNG) and ethinylestradiol (EE). The study describes both individual (LNG-alone and EE-alone) and dual drug (LNG and EE) incorporation in gelatin matrix, their loading properties and their release kinetics for extended time of 7 days in different formulations. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) reveals decrease in fiber diameter for dual drug incorporated fibers compared to individual drug loaded fibers. XRD and DSC results showed that both the drugs were amorphously distributed in the fibers and there was no effect on the polymer property after drug incorporation. A high encapsulation efficiency (∼90–100%) and drug loading (>90%) were observed for individual as well as dual drug loaded fibers. In in-vitro release studies, the release kinetics was found to be satisfactorily described by zero-order and first –order model for LNG, whereas in EE the release kinetics was found to be suitably fit to Higuchi model. We also observed that release of EE was affected by the drug content, whereas no significant difference was seen on LNG release for individual drug loaded samples. However, LNG release was found to increase in dual drug loaded samples. The in vitro permeability studies showed that both drugs were permeable through membrane filter and zero order sustained drug release was attained with dual drug incorporated gelatin fibers for a period of 7 days. The electrospun fibers were found to be biocompatible with L929 fibroblast cells. Thus, the present study establishes the feasibility of using these fibers for application in transdermal drug delivery system for contraceptive steroids.

Structure-sound absorption property relationships of electrospun thin silica fiber sheets: Quantitative analysis based on acoustic models

In order to determine the sound absorption mechanism and characteristics of nonwoven sheets composed of thin silica fibers quantitatively, their structure and acoustic properties were characterized and the influence of their structure on the sound absorption characteristics were investigated based on conventional acoustic models (Delany–Bazley–Miki, rigid-frame, and limp-frame models). Nonwoven sheets with fiber diameters in the micrometer and nanometer ranges were prepared by electrospinning from sol-gel precursors. All the silica fiber sheets showed a superior sound absorption coefficient over glass wool. Our theoretical analyses clearly indicate that the sound absorption mechanism of the thin fiber sheets gradually approaches midway between porous-type and panel-type from typical porous-type with decreasing fiber diameter. In addition, the effect of the flow resistivity due to the friction between the air and the fiber, as well as the effect of sample vibration induced by the sound waves, is more substantial for fibers thinner than 3 μm. The insights provided by our quantitative analysis will be useful for the rational design of high-performance porous thin-film sound absorbers.

Potential core-shell designed scaffolds with a gelatin-based shell in achieving controllable release rates of proteins for tissue engineering approaches.

The biomaterials design as core-shell structures opens a new door to the release of susceptible biomolecules in a controllable manner and enables to place natural biomaterials as shell layers to impart the effective biofunctional features at surfaces. In this study, core-shell designed scaffolds were prepared using coaxial electrospinning with hybrid of gelatin (GT)/polycaprolactone (PCL) at different weight ratios as their shell and protein solution as their core, followed by cross-linking to impart controllable release rates, tunable mechanical properties, and enhanced cytocompatibility. SEM, FM, and TEM confirmed the successful production of uniform core-shell nanofibers and homogeneous protein distribution. Results showed that an increase in GT proportion in the shell resulted in a decrease in fiber diameter, an increase of Young's modulus, and an intense burst release of BSA 0.2% which could be controlled through cross-linking. The mechanical tests revealed that the GT/PCL combining and cross-linking improved mechanical properties which correlated with an increase in spreading and proliferation of HUVECs. A slight burst release was also detected from BSA 0.05% and EGF encapsulated GT73P-cross-linked scaffold which demonstrated their applicability for a controlled release of dilute proteins. We were able to successfully incorporate two types of protein with different concentrations without supporting polymer into the GT shell to provide scaffolds possessing tunable mechanical properties and controllable release rates through blending with PCL at different ratios and/or cross-linking. These findings are promising to promote delivery systems of angiogenic growth factors that are needed a sustained release with different rates at each angiogenesis stage. © 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res Part A, 2019.

Incorporation of hydroxyapatite into nanofibrous PLGA scaffold towards improved breast cancer cell behavior

Abstract The spread of cancer cells to skeletal tissues which mainly consist of hydroxyapatite (HAp) may indicate some correlation between cancer cells and HAp. It is well accepted that an effective experimental model (in vitro cancer model) which mimics the microenvironment in vivo is of great importance for cancer research. Herein, for the first time, HAp nanoparticles are incorporated into poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) nanofibers to construct biomimetic 3D nanofibrous scaffolds as an in vitro cancer model. The morphologies, structure, mechanical and thermal properties of the PLGA/HAp scaffolds were characterized. The as-prepared PLGA/HAp scaffolds exhibit decreased fiber diameter, enhanced mechanical properties (31% and 8% improvement in tensile strength and modulus, respectively), and rougher surface over PLGA scaffold. The in vitro biocompatibility of PLGA/HAp scaffolds was evaluated with breast cancer cell line (MCF-7) using PLGA scaffold as control and cell cycle progression was detected by flow cytometry. MTT assay and live staining results demonstrate that PLGA/HAp scaffolds can better support cell viability and proliferation over PLGA scaffold. Analysis of cell cycle reveals that DNA synthesis, cell division, and proliferation of cancer cell are related to the presence of HAp in PLGA nanofibers. Our studies demonstrate the suitability of HAp-incorporated PLGA fibrous scaffolds as a promising platform for 3D cancer cell culture.

Associations between variation in the ovine high glycine-tyrosine keratin-associated protein gene KRTAP20-1 and wool traits.

The keratin-associated proteins (KAPs) are important constituents of wool fibers. Of the many mammalian KAP genes (KRTAPs) identified, KRTAP20-1 has been described in humans, but it has not been described in any other species. A search of the sheep genome using the human KRTAP20-1 sequence revealed a homologous open reading frame on chromosome 1, which would encode a high glycine-tyrosine KAP. PCR-single-stranded conformational polymorphism (PCR-SSCP) analysis identified 8 different banding patterns representing 8 unique DNA sequences (named A to H). The sequences had highest similarity to the human KRTAP20-1 sequence, and this suggests that they are variants of ovine KRTAP20-1. Among these variants, a 12-bp insertion/deletion and 6 single nucleotide poly- morphisms (SNPs), including one 5' untranslated region (UTR) SNP, one 3' UTR SNP, and 2 nonsynonymous SNPs, were detected. Variant A was found to be associated with a decrease in mean fiber diameter, fiber diameter standard deviation, and prickle factor, whereas variant C was associated with increased greasy fleece weight and decreased wool yield. These associations persisted after adjusting for the effect of 2 nearby KRTAPs (KRTAP6-3 and KRTAP22-1) that have also been reported to associate with these wool traits. This suggests that variation in KRTAP20-1 affects wool yield and mean fiber diameter-associated traits, and that this effect is unlikely to be the result of the clustering of these KRTAPs on chromosome 1.

Satellite cells maintain regenerative capacity but fail to repair disease-associated muscle damage in mice with Pompe disease

Pompe disease is a metabolic myopathy that is caused by glycogen accumulation as a result of deficiency of the lysosomal enzyme acid alpha glucosidase (GAA). Previously, we showed that adult muscle stem cells termed satellite cells are present at normal levels in muscle from patients with Pompe disease, but that these are insufficiently activated to repair the severe muscle pathology. Here we characterized the muscle regenerative response during disease progression in a mouse model of Pompe disease and investigated the intrinsic capacity of Gaa−/− satellite cells to regenerate muscle damage. Gaa−/− mice showed progressive muscle pathology from 15 weeks of age as reflected by increased lysosomal size, decreased fiber diameter and reduced muscle wet weight. Only during the first 15 weeks of life but not thereafter, we detected a gradual increase in centrally nucleated fibers and proliferating satellite cells in Gaa−/− muscle, indicating a mild regenerative response. The levels of Pax7-positive satellite cells were increased in Gaa−/− mice at all ages, most likely as result of enhanced satellite cell activation in young Gaa−/− animals. Surprisingly, both young and old Gaa−/− mice regenerated experimentally-induced muscle injury efficiently as judged by rapid satellite cell activation and complete restoration of muscle histology. In response to serial injury, Gaa−/− mice also regenerated muscle efficiently and maintained the satellite cell pool. These findings suggest that, similar to human patients, Gaa−/− mice have insufficient satellite cell activation and muscle regeneration during disease progression. The initial endogenous satellite cell response in Gaa−/− mice may contribute to the delayed onset of muscle wasting compared to human patients. The rapid and efficient regeneration after experimental muscle injury suggest that Gaa−/− satellite cells are functional stem cells, opening avenues for developing muscle regenerative therapies for Pompe disease.

Beneficial effects of metformin on muscle atrophy induced by obesity in rats.

A growing interest to understand the signaling pathways mediating obesity-induced muscle atrophy is given. Metformin (Met) was reported to possess positive effects on preventing muscle damage and promoting muscle mass maintenance. The aim of the present study to investigate pathways involved in Met effect on obesity induced muscle atrophy. Thirty adult male albino rats were assigned into two groups: normal chew diet fed group as control group (C; n = 10) and high-fat-diet (HFD) fed group ( n = 20). After 16 weeks, the HFD-fed animals were subdivided into two groups; HFD group ( n = 10) and HFD fed treated with oral Met (320 mg/day) treatment (Met, n = 10) for 4 weeks. At the end of the experiment; final body weight, visceral fat weight, fasting blood glucose, insulin, lactate, total cholesterol, triglycerides were measured and calculated homeostatic model assessment insulin resistant (HOMA-IR) for all groups. Soleus muscle weight, histopathlogical examination and expression of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-γ coactivator-1α (PGC-1α), forkhead box O3 (FoxO3), atrogin-1/MAFbx, and muscle RING finger 1 (MuRF-1) were performed. HFD-fed animals showed significant increase in final body weight, visceral fat mass, fasting blood glucose, insulin, calculated HOMA-IR, lactate, total cholesterol and triglycerides with significant decrease in soleus muscle weight, PGC-1α and significant increase in FoxO3, atrogin-1/MAFbx, and MuRF-1 expression. Also, there was significant decrease in fiber diameter, myosin heavy chain (MHC) I content while collagen content and myosin heavy chain IIa were increased compared with control group. Met-treated group showed a significant decrease in the measured parameters compared with the HFD group. It also restored the gene expression, morphometric measures and MHC composition toward normal. The current study is the first to provide evidence that Met could ameliorate muscle atrophy in high-fat diet induced obesity and this effect may be in part due to regulation of PGC-1α-FoxO3 pathway.

Investigating the effect of chitosan on hydrophilicity and bioactivity of conductive electrospun composite scaffold for neural tissue engineering

In this paper, nanofibers containing poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL), chitosan and polypyrrole (PPy) were fabricated using electrospinning to combine advantages of electrospun nanofibers topography with versatile advantages of chitosan and PPy. Various compositions of the PCL/chitosan/PPy polymeric scaffolds were fabricated by electrospinning and were analyzed for their surface topography, hydrophilicity and bioactivity. The results illustrated that chitosan in the scaffold imposed significant advancement in the hydrophilicity of the scaffold as confirmed by a decrease in contact angle up to 66% (123 ± 2.3 for PCL to 41.37 ± 3.51 for PCL/chitosan). The average diameter of the fibers was within the range of 30–180 nm, which influenced by the concentration of the chitosan as the increase up to 30% in chitosan content decreased fiber diameter from 124 nm to 36 nm. In-vitro studies using PC12 cells revealed that the PCL/chitosan/PPy nanofibrous scaffold supports cell attachment, spreading and revealed significant increase in proliferation up to 356% in comparison to Pure PCL and neurite extension of PC12. The results indicated the PCL/chitosan/PPy nanofibrous scaffolds support the adhesion, spreading and proliferation of the PC12 cells. Therefore, this scaffold could serve as promising neural tissue substitutes.

High-fat diet suppresses the positive effect of creatine supplementation on skeletal muscle function by reducing protein expression of IGF-PI3K-AKT-mTOR pathway.

High-fat (HF) diets in combination with sedentary lifestyle represent one of the major public health concerns predisposing to obesity and diabetes leading to skeletal muscle atrophy, decreased fiber diameter and muscle mass with accumulation of fat tissue resulting in loss of muscle strength. One strategy to overcome the maleficent effects of HF diet is resistance training, a strategy used to improve muscle mass, reverting the negative effects on obesity-related changes in skeletal muscle. Together with resistance training, supplementation with creatine monohydrate (CrM) in the diet has been used to improve muscle mass and strength. Creatine is a non-essential amino acid that is directly involved in the cross-bridge cycle providing a phosphate group to ADP during the initiation of muscle contraction. Besides its antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects CrM also upregulates IGF-1 resulting in hyperthophy with an increase in muscle function. However, it is unknown whether CrM supplementation during resistance training would revert the negative effects of high-fat diet on the muscle performance. During 8 weeks we measured muscle performance to climb a 1.1m and 80° ladder with increasing load on trained rats that had received standard diet or high-fat diet, supplemented or not with CrM. We observed that the CrM supplementation up-regulated IGF-1 and phospho-AKT protein levels, suggesting an activation of the IGF1-PI3K-Akt/PKB-mTOR pathway. Moreover, despite the CrM supplementation, HF diet down-regulated several proteins of the IGF1-PI3K-Akt/PKB-mTOR pathway, suggesting that diet lipid content is crucial to maintain or improve muscle function during resistance training.

Variation in the ovine keratin-associated protein 15-1 gene affects wool yield

AbstractKeratin-associated proteins (KAPs) are constituents of wool and hair fibres and are believed to play an important role in determining the characteristics of the fibres. In the current study, a polymerase chain reaction-single stranded conformational polymorphism (PCR-SSCP) approach was used to screen for variation in the ovine KAP15-1 gene (KRTAP15-1). Four PCR-SSCP banding patterns, representing four different variants (named A to D), were detected. Four single nucleotide polymorphisms were found within the coding region and three of these were non-synonymous. The effect of this genetic variation on wool traits was investigated in 396 Merino × Southdown-cross sheep. Of the three variants found in these sheep (A, B and C), the presence of B was found to be associated with decreased wool yield, while C was associated with increased wool yield and decreased fibre diameter standard deviation. Sheep of genotype AC had a higher wool yield than those of genotype AA or AB.

Electrospun polylactic acid-chitosan composite: a bio-based alternative for inorganic composites for advanced application.

Fabricating novel materials for biomedical applications mostly require the use of biodegradable materials. In this work biodegradable materials like polylactic acid (PLA) and chitosan (CHS) were used for designing electrospun mats. This work reports the physical and chemical characterization of the PLA-CHS composite, prepared by the electrospinning technique using a mixed solvent system. The addition of chitosan into PLA, offered decrease in fiber diameter in the composites with uniformity in the distribution of fibers with an optimum at 0.4wt% CHS. The fiber formation and the reduction in fiber diameter were confirmed by the SEM micrograph. The inverse gas chromatography and contact angle measurements supported the increase of hydrophobicity of the composite membrane with increase of filler concentration. The weak interaction between PLA and chitosan was confirmed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and thermal analysis. The stability of the composite was established by zeta potential measurements. Cytotoxicity studies of the membranes were also carried out and found that up to 0.6% CHS the composite material was noncytotoxic. The current findings are very important for the design and development of new materials based on polylactic acid-chitosan composites for environmental and biomedical applications.

Core/shell structure of electrospun polycarbonate nanofibers

Internal structure is the key to tailoring the performance of electrospun (ES) nanofibers. However, it still remains very challenging to characterize the structures inside ES fibers. In this study, ES polycarbonate (PC) nanofibers were successfully cut open along and across the fiber axis by embedding. The characterization results revealed that these sections exhibited a heterogeneous core layer structure was formed due to the phase separation. A clear core/shell-like structure consequently formed, which is caused by the different evaporation behavior. The thickness of the shell layer slightly decreased with decreased fiber diameter, while the core layer showed a dramatical linear decrease. The dominant part was switched from the heterogeneous core layer to shell layer with high molecular orientation, which enables the production of nanofibers with superior properties.

Minimizing the Diameter of Electrospun Polyacrylonitrile (PAN) Nanofibers by Design of Experiments for Electrochemical Application

AbstractAn effective method to study and predict the complex mechanism of electrospinning is needed. A combination of design of experiments (DOEs) and finer tuning of the experimental parameters were used to investigate the effect of individual and interactions of solution, electrospinning, and environmental conditions on the dimensions and morphology of polyacrylonitrile (PAN) nanofibers. Analyses on DOEs determined that solution viscosity, controlled by the concentration of polymer precursor, was the predominant factor in manipulating the PAN nanofiber diameter. Similarly, reduced surface tension controlled by the addition of surfactant contributed to smoother nanofibers. An appropriate applied voltage for stable formation of Taylor cone was established. DOE on environmental conditions revealed the absolute moisture content played a significant role in causing beads. A minimum polyacrylonitrile (PAN)‐based fiber diameter of 42±7 nm was achieved with solution containing 3.25 wt. % PAN, 0.1 wt. % BYK® surfactant in N,N‐dimethylformamide (DMF). PAN nanofibers were subsequently stabilized then carbonized. BET analysis of the carbonized nanofibers showed the specific surface area increased as a function of nanofiber diameter, reaching 684 m2/g at 407 nm. Preliminary results from the electrochemical characterization of the carbon nanofibers showed the double‐layer capacitance increased with decreasing fiber diameter, showing suitable potential for electrode applications.