Suitability of electrospun nanofibers for specialized biomedical applications

Official URL: https://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-99958-2_8

Nanofibers offer potential applications in the biomedical field and they have become popular as they have the possibility to be produced for various fields ranging from drug encapsulation, drug delivery, tissue regeneration, wound and burn care, vascular grafts, enzyme immobilization, etc. due to their high surface area to volume ratio, ability to be suitable for biomimicry, possibility to be designed according to the application by optimization of nanofiber production process parameters, ability to enhance cell adhesion and growth and their ease of functionalization. Electrospinning is the most preferred method for the fabrication of nanofibers since it is a simple, versatile, and efficient technique. The nanofibers produced by electrospinning have the potential to be used in various applications including biomedical applications due to the ability of electrospinning to result in targeted fiber morphologies and diameters. In this chapter, the electrospinning process, parameters, and single and co-axial electrospinning techniques were explained. Moreover, biomedical applications especially wound dressing, tissue engineering, drug delivery, vascular grafts, and enzyme immobilization of nanofibers, with a focus on electrospun nanofibers were considered, and examples were reviewed in detail.