Highly architectural MEW scaffolds with superior performance

Abstract

Melt electrospinning writing (MEW) combines the fundamental principles of electrospinning, a fiber forming technology, and 3D printing. The process, however, is highly complex and the quality of the fabricated structures strongly depends on the interplay of key printing parameter settings including processing temperature, applied voltage, collection speed, and applied pressure. These parameters act in unison, comprising the principal forces on the electrified jet: pushing the viscous polymer out of the nozzle and mechanically and electrostatically dragging it for deposition towards the collector. This article will reveal the correlation between the printing process parameters and the fiber morphology for curved printing fibers below the critical translation speed (CTS), and prepare controllable curved scaffolds by adjusting the electric field strength, which have fully interconnected pores and allow cells to migrate and proliferate. Furthermore, the study verified the advantages of these scaffolds through mechanical and in vitro culture experiments. The results showed that compared with the linearly printed scaffolds, the curved printed scaffolds exhibited better mechanical properties and enhanced cell attachment and proliferation.

Keywords

• Melt electrospinning writing
• Multiphasic scaffold morphology
• Parameter screening
• Electric field control
• Side-loop pattern