Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
electrospinning is not limited to polymers. Other elements of
regenerativemedicine,includingcells,drugs,andbioactivefactors,
can be combined into a scaffold. Recently, many researchers have
used electrospinning techniques to produce a variety of materi-
als, including vascular grafts, nerve guides, tendon, and skin. In
fact, electrospinning is an area of intense focus for academic bio-
materials research, validating the importance of this technology
platform. Moreover, electrospinning is a tunable manufacturing
technique for the design of biomaterials with potentially reorga-
nizable architecture for various cell and tissue growth.
12.1 Introduction
Nanofiber technology is one of the fastest-growing areas in the
material science and engineering fields and requires interdiscipli-
nary backgrounds, such as chemistry, material science, information
technology, electronics, environmental technology, and biological
technology.Thelastdecadehasseensignificantprogressinthepro-
ductionofnanofibersbyelectrospinning.
1
-
5
Nanofibershavedrawn
significant attention in many fields, including high-performance
filter media, composites, textiles, catalysts, electronic and optical
devices, drug delivery systems, and tissue engineering.
3
,
5
Due to
the very small diameter of the polymer fibers obtained by electro-
spinning, the surface-area-to-volume ratio of the fibers is signifi-
cantly high. The nonwoven matrices formed from nanofibers have
very small pore sizes; however, the total porosity of the matrices
will still be very high. This makes them excellent candidates for
use in filtration and membrane application. Due to the high filtra-
tion e
ciency, polymer nanofiber-based filtration devices are now
commercially developed for industrial air filtration, as filters for gas
turbine generators, and filters for heavy-duty engines. Recently it
has been demonstrated that the filtration e
ciency of these mem-
branes can be increased by using charged fibers that would mod-
ify the electrostatic attraction of the particles.
2
Electrospinning has
thepotentialtodevelopintothefuturefabricationprocessfordevel-
oping protective clothing. Optimal protective clothing should satisfy
properties such as it should be permeable to both air and water
Search WWH ::
Custom Search