Influence of Nanofiber Orientation on Morphological and Mechanical Properties of Electrospun Chitosan Mats

Published in Journal of Healthcare Engineering, 3651480 (2018) · Hindawi · Open access, CC BY
DOI: 10.1155/2018/3651480

Summary

Tendons, ligaments and menisci are all fibre-reinforced tissues in which the fibres run in a definite direction, and a scaffold meant to replace them has to reproduce that alignment. This study electrospins chitosan/poly(ethylene oxide) blends into oriented meshes and examines how the degree of orientation affects morphology and mechanical behaviour. Comparing a static plate collector against a rotating disk isolates the contribution of the collector itself - the component that turns a random mat into an aligned one.

Authors & Affiliations

  • Paola Nitti
    Department of Engineering for Innovation, University of Salento, Lecce, Italy
  • Nunzia Gallo
    Department of Engineering for Innovation, University of Salento, Lecce, Italy
  • Luigi Natta
    Department of Engineering for Innovation, University of Salento, Lecce, Italy
  • Francesca Scalera
    Department of Engineering for Innovation, University of Salento, Lecce, Italy
  • Barbara Palazzo
    Department of Engineering for Innovation, University of Salento, Lecce, Italy

Linari Electrospinning Systems

Linari high voltage generator QCHV-M40 with static and disk collectors
The meshes were produced with a Linari Engineering S.r.l. high voltage generator, model QCHV-M40 (40 kV), used with both a static plate collector and a rotating disk. Swapping the collector to control fibre orientation is exactly the comparison our Starter Kit for aligned nanofibers is built for.

Topics

Fiber Orientation Tendon and Ligament Repair Collector Geometry Mechanical Anisotropy

Materials

Chitosan Poly(ethylene oxide)
Read the full publication
Back to blog