Thoroughly Hydrophilized Electrospun Poly(L‐Lactide)/ Poly(ε‐Caprolactone) Sponges for Tissue Engineering Application

Abstract

Biodegradable electrospun sponges are of interest for various applications including tissue engineering, drug release, dental therapy, plant protection, and plant fertilization. Biodegradable electrospun poly(l‐lactide)/poly(ε‐caprolactone) (PLLA/PCL) blend fiber‐based sponge with hierarchical pore structure is inherently hydrophobic, which is disadvantageous for application in tissue engineering, fertilization, and drug delivery. Contact angles and model studies for staining with a hydrophilic dye for untreated, plasma‐treated, and surfactant‐treated PLLA/PCL sponges are reported. Thorough hydrophilization of PLLA/PCL sponges is found only with surfactant‐treated sponges. The MTT assay on the leachates from the sponges does not indicate any cell incompatibility. Furthermore, the cell proliferation and penetration of the hydrophilized sponges are verified by in vitro cell culture studies using MG63 and human fibroblast cells.

Rapid preparation of electrospun nanofibre sponges through supercritical CO2 drying

“…Electrospun nanofibre sponges (NFS) -also referred to as electrospun nanofibre aerogels 1 -are a fascinating class of ultralight, highly porous and flexible materials. They are fabricated by selfassembly of prebuilt electrospun nanofibre building blocks from a large variety of synthetic polymers or biopolymers and offer great potential as thermal insulators, [2][3][4] in biomedical application, 2,3,[5][6][7][8][9] in supercapacitors and energy storage devices, 7,8,10 and in liquid or air filtration. 2,8,[11][12][13][14] So far, few alternative methods for the preparation of nanofibre sponges such as 3D printing, 15,16 selfassembly, 15,16 blow spinning, 17 or self-agglomeration 18 have been reported, while the conventional fabrication method of electrospun nanofibre sponges from prefabricated nanofibre building blocks follows a common principle: [19][20][21] (1) nanofibre mats (NFM) obtained through electrospinning are chopped to single short nanofibres, (2) the fragmented nanofibres are dispersed to obtain a stable suspension, (3) the suspension is poured into a mould, and frozen, a process known as freezecasting.…”

Hydrophilic amphibious open-cell macroporous sponge by Hofmeister effect induced nanofibrils

“…12 Compressible and robust sponge gels are made by the percolation of electrospun nanofibers during the freeze-drying process to form a dual porous structure: small pores between the fibers in the sponge gel cell walls and large pores (≈100 μm) formed by the sublimation of ice during freeze-drying. 13 However, PI electrospun fibers are hydrophobic in nature and could not be homogeneously dispersed in water, 14 hampering the practical application of these electrospun sponges. He et al 10 used the co-solvent effect to synthesize structured open-hole PNIPAM sponge hydrogels.…”