Nanocomposite electrospun micro/nanofibers for biomedical applications

ALDANA, ANA AGUSTINA; ABRAHAM, GUSTAVO A.; RIVERO GUADALUPE

Materials for Biomedical Engineering: Biopolymer Fibers

Elsevier

Año: 2019; p. 89 - 127

Electrospun micro/nanofibrous structures are promising and versatile platforms for use in technological applications in different areas such as biotechnology and environmental engineering, air and water filtration, textile industry, automotive industry, aerospace industry, defense and security, catalysis, energy conversion and storage, optoelectronics, pharmaceutics, biomedical devices, and healthcare (Agarwal et al., 2013; Persano et al., 2013). In the biomedical field, tissue-engineered scaffolds (bone, cartilage, skin, cardiovascular, and nerve tissues, among others), drug-delivery systems, dressings for wound healing, biosensors and medical implants are the main applications in which electrospun structures are involved (Wang et al., 2013a,b). Therapeutic agents can be incorporated into electrospun nanofibers by dispersion, solubilization, encapsulation, or surface-immobilization to enhance the performance of tissue-engineered nanofibrous scaffolds (Beachley and Wen, 2010). Nanofibrous scaffolds present unique and attractive properties. Electrospun fibers ranging from a few micrometers to nanometer sizes can be obtained from natural, synthetic, biodegradable or nondegradable polymers, polymeric nanocomposites, emulsions, blends, and melts. In this chapter, different polymeric-based nanocomposite electrospun micro/ nanofibers for biomedical applications such as tissue-engineered scaffolds and regenerative medicine, dressings for wound healing, prosthetic/implant devices with antibacterial properties, biosensors and other applications are reviewed. Polymer-based nanocomposites including nanohydroxyapatite, calcium carbonate, bioactive glasses, carbon nanotubes (CNT)/nanofibers, graphene, graphene oxide (GO), iron-oxide, and silver nanoparticles (AgNP) are described and discussed. Current advances in the above-mentioned areas are also covered. Finally, challenges and future research on this topic is presented.