Incorporation of bioactive glass nanoparticles in electrospun PCL/chitosan fibers by using benign solvents

Abstract

The use of bioactive glass (BG) particles as a filler for the development of composite electrospun fibers has already been widely reported and investigated. The novelty of the present research work is represented by the use of benign solvents (like acetic acid and formic acid) for electrospinning of composite fibers containing BG particles, by using a blend of PCL and chitosan. In this work, different BG particle sizes were investigated, namely nanosized and micron-sized. A preliminary investigation about the possible alteration of BG particles in the electrospinning solvents was performed using SEM analysis. The obtained composite fibers were investigated in terms of morphological, chemical and mechanical properties. An in vitro mineralization assay in simulated body fluid (SBF) was performed to investigate the capability of the composite electrospun fibers to induce the formation of hydroxycarbonate apatite (HCA).

Electrospun poly(d,l‐lactide)/gelatin/glass‐ceramics tricomponent nanofibrous scaffold for bone tissue engineering

“…This effect can be assigned to the presence of RKKP particles that increasing viscosity of the electrospun suspension, determined an increase of fiber diameter. Similar results were obtained by other investigators when hydroxyapatite or bioactive glass microparticles were added to a polymeric scaffold (Liverani et al, ).…”

Biodegradable Polymers Grafted onto Multifunctional Mesoporous Silica Nanoparticles for Gene Delivery

“…The spectrum of the second step of functionalization, which refers to surface modification, revealed typical peak for PCL related to 2963 cm −1 and 2886 cm −1 due to stretching vibration of C-H bond, peak at 1723 cm −1 related to stretching vibration of C=O, and asymmetric and symmetric C-O-C stretching vibration around 1240 cm −1 and 1160 cm −1 , respectively, as related in the literature [23,24].…”

Polycaprolactone Electrospun Fiber Mats Prepared Using Benign Solvents: Blending with Copper(II)‐Chitosan Increases the Secretion of Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor in a Bone Marrow Stromal Cell Line

“…Copper(II)‐chitosan was thus used to fabricate electrospun fibers to test our hypothesis. The electrospinning of chitosan is known to be very challenging, especially when avoiding the use of highly toxic organofluorine solvents (e.g., trifluoroacetic acid) 34. The most common strategy to overcome the problem is electrospinning the polymer in combination with synthetic polymers, such as poly(caprolactone) (PCL),34,35 poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA),36 or poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) 37.…”

“…The electrospinning of chitosan is known to be very challenging, especially when avoiding the use of highly toxic organofluorine solvents (e.g., trifluoroacetic acid) 34. The most common strategy to overcome the problem is electrospinning the polymer in combination with synthetic polymers, such as poly(caprolactone) (PCL),34,35 poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA),36 or poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) 37. Among other candidates, PCL was chosen in this study due to its interesting properties, including biocompatibility, biodegradability, availability from renewable sources, FDA approval for several clinical applications, and considering the large body of research available about PCL processing by electrospinning 38,39.…”

“…In this work, we successfully fabricated fibers of PCL blended with copper(II)‐chitosan by electrospinning with benign solvents 34. The fibers were characterized morphologically by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and chemically by energy dispersive X‐ray (EDX) and Fourier‐transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopies.…”