Electrospun poly nano fibers

At present a few studies of nanofibers and nanombes are focused on CNS drug delivery. One study evaluated electrospun nanofibers of a degradable polymer, PLGA, loaded with antiinflammatory agent, dexamethasone, for neural prosthetic applications (Abidian and Martin, 2005). A conducting polymer, poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene), was deposited to the nano-fiber surface and the coated nanofibers were then mounted on the microfabricated neural microelectrodes, which were implanted into brain. The drug was released by electrical stimulation that induced a local dilation of the coat and increased permeability. 

Matthew, G., J. P. Hong, J. M. Rhee, H. S. Lee, and C. Nah (2005). Preparation and characterization of properties of electrospun poly(butylene terephthalate) nano fibers filled with carbon nanotubes. Polymer Testing 24(6) 712-717. 

Poly(vinyl pyrrolidone) (PVP) was used by Nguyen et al. as a polymer matrix to prepare electrically conducting nano(micro)poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT) fiber non-woven web [50]. The electrical conductivity of the electrospun PEDOT non woven web was as high as 7.5 S cm when 1-propanol was used as the solvent. An electrochemical capacitor was assembled using one pair of the PEDOT nonwoven webs as the electrodes by a simple stack method, where metal plates were used as current collectors. They observed the electrochemical charge and discharge behavior of the capacitor, confirming that the PEDOT nonwoven web can be used as an electrode for flexible electrochemical capacitors. 

Figure 10.2 Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images of electrospun nano- and micro-fibrous poly(E-caprolactone) scaffolds demonstrating fiber dimensions of different orders of magnitude (scale bars 5 pm for subset and 50 pm for full images).

Abd El-Fattah Ah, A. Carbon nanotube reinforced carbon nano composite fibrils by electro-spinning , PhD Thesis, October 2002, Drexel University Online Library, URL http //dspace.library.drexel.edu/handle/1860/17. Access date 19 May 2005. Kim, H. Y, Kim, K. W., Lee, K. H., Yoo, E.-S., Farris, R. J. Fennessey, S. F. Electrospun hollow fibers of poly(e-caprolactone) , Abstracts of Papers, 228th ACS National Meeting, Philadelphia, PA, United States, August 22-26, 2004. American Chemical Society, Washington, DC, 2004. 

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