Electrospinning of Poly-caprolactone for Scaffold Manufacturing: Experimental Investigation on the Process Parameters Influence

The term “tissue engineering” refers to applications related with the repair or replacement of portions or whole tissue (i.e., bone, cartilage, blood vessels, skin, muscle etc.). Often, the tissues involved require certain mechanical and structural properties for their proper functioning. This leads to three-dimensional scaffolds fabrication to support cellular in-growth and proliferation. Scaffolds having tailored, biomimetic (across multiple scales) geometries have become important. Various technologies come together to construct porous scaffolds to regenerate the tissues and also for controlled and targeted release of bioactive agents in tissue engineering applications. The objective of the present work is to produce porous polymeric scaffolds made of Poly (ɛ-Caprolactone) (PCL), by electrospinning. Electrospinning is a process whereby ultra-fine fibers are formed in a high-voltage electrostatic field. The electrospun structure has a morphology similar to the extracellular matrix (ECM) of natural tissue, which is characterized by a wide range of pore diameters distribution, high porosity, and effective mechanical properties and is capable of supporting cells attachment and proliferation. The effects of process variables such as voltage, solution concentration and deposition distance on the structure have been studied. A combination of elongated beads and fibers, known as the bead-on-string morphology is also observed under many conditions. The fibrous structure is stabilized at high concentrations and voltages. The functional complexity of electrospun scaffolds provides significant advantages over other techniques. The wide range of structural characteristics that may be obtained in an electrospun polymer makes it suitable for many biomedical applications including medical textiles, drug delivery, membrane separation and organ regeneration. However, improvements are required before optimal utilization in vivo becomes routine. Improved deposition efficiency is necessary to maintain the attractiveness of this technique.