Tissue engineering (TE) is an emerging field of study that incorporates the principles of biology, medicine, and engineering for designing biological substitutes to maintain, restore, or improve tissue functions with the goal of avoiding organ transplantation. Amongst the various scaffolding techniques, electrospinning is one of the most widely used techniques to synthesise a nanofibrous scaffold. Electrospinning as a potential tissue engineering scaffolding technique has attracted a great deal of interest and has been widely discussed in many studies. The high surface-to-volume ratio of nanofibres, coupled with their ability to fabricate scaffolds that may mimic extracellular matrices, facilitates cell migration, proliferation, adhesion, and differentiation. These are all very desirable properties for TE applications. However, despite its widespread use and distinct advantages, electrospun scaffolds suffer from two major practical limitations: poor cell penetration and poor load-bearing applications. Furthermore, electrospun scaffolds have low mechanical strength. Several solutions have been offered by various research groups to overcome these limitations. This review provides an overview of the electrospinning techniques used to synthesise nanofibres for TE applications. In addition, we describe current research on nanofibre fabrication and characterisation, including the main limitations of electrospinning and some possible solutions to overcome these limitations.

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The interest in biodegradable polymer nanofibres with tissue cell regeneration potential has increased in recent years. However, there are issues in the development of scaffolding to provide a favourable environment for cell proliferation and attachment. Such issues can be overcome by the addition of hydroxyapatite (HA), which is widely used in biomaterial applications. Biodegradable nanofibres of polycaprolactone (PCL) and hydroxyapatite (HA) have been produced by electrospinning. In this study, PCL was mixed with HA to synthesise nanofibres by single nozzle electrospinning. Furthermore, PCL-HA nanofibres were mixed with fibronectin to investigate the effect of adhesion of fibronectin to the surface of the PCL-HA nanofibres. The structure and morphology of nanofibres were determined by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), the chemical properties of nanofibres were analysed by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), and the diameter and adhesive force of nanofibers and fibronectin were determined by an atomic force microscope (AFM). The SEM examination revealed the formation of cylindrical and smooth nanofibres with dense fibre networks when 10% HA was used, as HA can generate fibre. FTIR analysis indicated the presence of PCL and HA inside the nanofibres produced by electrospinning. The AFM examination showed that the PCL-HA nanofibres with 100 µg/ml of fibronectin gives the highest adhesion force which is important for the scaffold to resist the force from the external environment. This outcome resulted indicates that the PCL-HA nanofibers with fibronectin are promising for tissue engineering scaffold application. Hence, further investigations are needed to ensure the compatibility of living cells to survive and grow on the PCL-HA nanofibrous mats.

This study examined the process of synthesising biodegradable nanofibres made up of polycaprolactone (PCL) and chlorophyllin sodium copper (CSC) through electrospinning for scaffolding in tissue engineering. Scaffolds provide a platform for cell regeneration for repairing damaged human tissues or organs. However, the issue lies in developing scaffolding that will provide a favourable environment for cell attachment and proliferation. One way to address this concern is to add CSC, which has been widely used in biomaterial applications, to the nanofibres. The structure and morphology of the nanofibres in this research were determined by using a scanning electron microscope (SEM), and their chemical properties were tested by using Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). Moreover, the diameter and adhesive force of the nanofibres were investigated by using an atomic force microscope (AFM). The SEM examination revealed that the PCL/CSC nanofibres lost their fibrous structure, and the FTIR results proved that the nanofibres synthesised by electrospinning still consisted of PCL and CSC. The AFM examination showed that the diameter and adhesive force of PCL/CSC nanofibres were less than those of PCL nanofibres. This outcome resulted from the CSC’s inability to generate fibres on its own. Furthermore, its noncrystalloid structure prevented it from providing inner enhancement for PCL nanofibres. Hence, further studies are needed to ensure that PCL/CSC nanofibres can be used as an innovative type of scaffolding to provide an appropriate environment for living cells.