Biomedical applications electrospun nanofibers

Some of the biomedical application of nanofibers is to cure for wound and burnings in human skin. It can be designed for especially hemostatic tools. Electrospun biodegradable polymers can be spun onto the wound skin. They form a thin web onto the skin. This web protects skin from microbes. Moreover, it helps to heal the wound quickly. Finally, it minimizes the possibility of scars. Electrospun nanofiber equipment used in wound healing is shown in Fig. 2.2. 

Kim K et al (2003) Control of degradation rate and hydrophilicity in electrospun nonwoven poly (D, L-lactide) nanofiber scaffolds for biomedical applications. Biomaterials 24(27) 4977 985... 

M.T Conconi, et al., Electrospun polyphosphazene nanofibers for in vitro osteoblast culture, in A. Andrianov (Ed.), Polyphosphazenes for Biomedical Applications, Wiley-Intersdence, Hoboken, NJ, 2009. 

Electrospun nanofibers are used in many applications such as filtration [61], catalyst support [62], biomedical [63] and sensors in electronics [64]. 

Nanofibrous mats can also act as ion exchangers [45,46] which have faster kinetics compared to the classical, granular systems. SEM image of pollens of Aesculus hippocas-tanum filtered by electrospun media can be seen in Figure 10.3. It is worth mentioning that nanofibers have approximately two orders of magnitude lower p>ore size than the size of the pollens, therefore even smaller items can be filtered such as bacteria, which points to the biomedical applications of electrospun nanofibers. 

Electrospinning technique has proved to be efficient in nanofibers production for diverse applications such as biomedical applications, liquid crystal devices, nanofiltration, etc. However, it has been very promising technique for tissue engineered scaffolds fabrication. This reiterates the fact that through this technique, it is possible to fabricate scaffolds by resembling the namral ECM inside human body. The features of electrospun nanofibers can be manipulated so that (i) the dimensions of nanofibers could resemble the namral tissue fibers dimensions in the body and (ii) the scaffolds porosity could be manipulated to mimic that of the namral tissues inside the body. High porosity is mandatory in scaffolds for better fluid perfusion and cell proliferation. 

Electrospun mats have a larger specific surface area and smaller pore size compared to commercial nonwoven fabrics. They are of interest in a wide variety of applications, including semi-permeable membranes, nanocomposites, filters, protective clothing and biomedical applications such as wound dressings, tissue engineering scaffolds, and drug delivery systems. Recently, unidirectional-like nanofiber mats fabricated by control collector speed were reported and a high mechanical property was obtained. ... 

---