Abstract:
In tissue engineering, electrospinning has gained significant interest due to its highly porous structure with an excellent surface area to volume ratio and fiber diameters that can mimic the structure of the extracellular matrix. Bioactive substances such as growth factors and drugs are easily integrated. In many applications, there is an important need for small tubular structures (I.D. < 1 mm). However, fabricating sub-millimeter structures is challenging as it reduces the collector area and increases the disturbing factors, leading to significant fiber loss. This study aims to establish a reliable and reproducible electrospinning process for sub-millimeter tubular structures with minimized material loss. Influencing factors were analyzed, and disturbance factors were removed before optimizing control variables through the design-of-experiments method. Structural and morphological characterization was performed, including the yield, thickness, and fiber arrangement of the scaffold. We evaluated the electrospinning process to enhance the manufacturing efficiency and reduce material loss. The results indicated that adjusting the voltage settings and polarity significantly increased the fiber yield from 8% to 94%. Variations in the process parameters also affected the scaffold thickness and homogeneity. The results demonstrate the complex relationship between the process parameters and provide valuable insights for optimizing electrospinning, particularly for the cost-effective and reproducible production of small tubular diameters.
摘要:
在组织工程中,静电纺丝由于其具有优异的表面积与体积比和纤维直径的高度多孔结构,可以模拟细胞外基质的结构而获得了极大的兴趣。生长因子和药物等生物活性物质很容易整合。在许多应用中,重要的是需要小的管状结构(I.D.<1mm)。然而,制造亚毫米结构具有挑战性,因为它减少了收集器面积并增加了干扰因素,导致显著的纤维损失。这项研究旨在为亚毫米管状结构建立一种可靠且可重复的静电纺丝工艺,并使材料损失最小化。影响因素进行了分析,在通过实验设计方法优化控制变量之前,消除了干扰因素。进行了结构和形态表征,包括产量,厚度,和支架的纤维排列。我们评估了静电纺丝工艺以提高制造效率并减少材料损失。结果表明,调整电压设置和极性显着提高纤维产量从8%到94%。工艺参数的变化也影响支架厚度和均匀性。结果证明了工艺参数之间的复杂关系,并为优化静电纺丝提供了有价值的见解,特别是对于具有成本效益和可重复生产的小管径。