PLA electrospun nanofibres

Anaraki NA, Rad LR, Irani M, Harman I. Fabrication of PLA/PEG/MWCNT electrospun nanofibrous scaffolds for anticancer drug delivery. J Appl Polymer Sci 2015 132. 

Liu, H., Wang, S, and Qi, N. (2012) Controllable structure, properties, and degradation of the electrospun PLGA/PLA-blended nanofibrous scaffolds. J. AppL Polym. ScL, 125, E468-E476. 

As reported in other chapters in this volume, PLA is one of the most used materials for biomedical applications due to biocompatibility and biodegradability, but hydrophobic properties require the encapsulation of water-soluble agents to avoid decomposition and failure of the polymer as a drug-carrier substrate. One of the advantages of coaxial electrospinning is that solid or liquid drugs can be incorporated into electrospun nanofibres and it is possible to encapsulate drugs into a structural shell. 

Ago et al. prepared bifibrous mats by electrospinning mixtures of biodegradable polymers lignin and PLA with CNs. Fiber morphology and thermal stability were smd-ied as a function of filler concentration. Strong interaction between the fignin-PLA matrix and the CNs led to improved thermal stability of the membranes. Electrospun nanofibrous composites that use cellulosic fillers have tremendous potential for the development of novel multifunctional materials [67]. 

Poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG), also known as poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO), is a hydrophilic, biocompatible polyether. PEG usually refers to a material with relatively low molecular weight (e.g., several thousands), while PEO to a material with high molecular weight (e.g., over tens or hundreds of thousands). PEO is wafer soluble and therefore can be electrospun into nanofibres from its water solution (Deitzel et al., 2001). However, water solubility makes the material unstable in a biological environment. Consequently, PEO or PEG is usually used in combination with other natural (e.g., collagen, chitosan) or synthetic polymers (e.g., PLA) in blends or copolymers (Subramanian et al., 2005 Szentivanyi et al., 2009). 

Ignatova, M., et al., 2009. Electrospun non-woven nanofibrous hybrid mats based on chitosan and PLA for wound-dressing applications. Macromolecular Bioscience 9 (1), 102—111. 

Xu, X.L., et al., 2010. Electrospun PEG-PLA nanofibrous membrane for sustained release of hydrophilic antibiotics. Journal of Applied Polymer Science 118 (1), 588—595. 

A novel epoxy/electrospun PLA nanofibre composite material fiibrica-tion and characterisation. Proceedings of the 4th International Conference on Smart Materials and Nanotechnology in Engineering (SMN 2013), Gold Coast, Australia, July 10-12, 2013. 

Haroosh H.J. and Dong, Y. (2012) Electrospun PLA/PCL/MPs nanofibrous hybrid composite structures for sustained drug release. Proceedings of the... 

In general terms, biodegradable polyesters such as PLA, and poly (s-caprolactone) (PCL) are suitable choices for constructing nanofibrous scaffolds," by their good processability and mechanical properties. In fact, electrospun fibres of these polymers could replicate the physical dimensions and morphology of the major components in native ECM. On the other... 

The average diameter of PANI CSA-PLA nanofibers determined from the SEM images was about 200 nm, with a standard deviation of about 100 nm and length up to several hundred micrometers (Fig. 5.10). The as-electrospun PANI CSA-PLA nanofibers were stacked and bonded with the substrate firmly, resulting in an interconnected nanofibrous network with a thickness of about 2 mm. This network structure was in favor of the infiltration of electrolyte and further promotes the electrocatalytic activity for the reduction of 13 ions. The nanofibers were directly deposited on rigid fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO) and also flexible indium tin oxide-coated polyethylene naphthalate (PEN) substrates to obtain the counter electrodes, which is close to that of sputtered Pt-based DSSCs. 

Porous fibres containing lots of ellipse-like holes on the fibre surface layer have been electrospun from a polylactic acid (PLA)-chloroform solution (Fig. 5.7a). However, when the solution used chloroform-DMF mixture as the solvent, the same operating condition gave a finer nanofibre with a smooth fibre surface (Fig. 5.7b). Porous fibres have also been electrospun from polycarbonate, poly (methyl methacrylate) and polystyrene (Megelski et al., 2002). 

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