Properties, Engineering and Applications of PolymericNanofibers: Current Research and Future Advances

The subject of nanomedicine has seen a surge in research activity over the past decade, with nanofibers being a particularly active field. Nanofibers are solid, dry fibers with nanometer diameters, made of various polymers, whereas electrospinning is a versatile, simple, elegant, reproducible, continuous and scalable technology for their preparation. Nanofibers are a unique class of materials in the biomedical field, since they provide a biomimetic environment on the nanometer scale, a three-dimensional architecture with the desired surface properties on the micrometer scale, combined with mechanical strength and physiological acceptability on the macro scale. In particular, their ability to imitate the fibrillar elements of a natural extracellular matrix in a very realistic way is crucial. In this paper we introduce the fundamental aspects of the electrospinning process and the properties of nanofibers, as well as highlighting the enormous potential of nanofibers as drug-delivery systems and tissue scaffolds

Delivering of Resveratrol with Solid Lipid Nanoparticles Improved Mitochondria Activity

Skin is main target for UV-oxidative stress and their antioxidant defenses can be quickly overcome. [...

PVA/CA based electrospun nanofibers: influence of processing parameters in the fiber diameter

Recently, the electrospinning technique has been explored as a natural and synthetic polymer processing tool due to its versatility and potential to generate complex structures at a nanoscale. In this work, non-woven nanofibrous mats were electrospun, with a structure resembling the extracellular matrix, for prospective biomedical uses. Poly (vinyl alcohol) (PVA) and cellulose acetate (CA) based electrospun nanofibrous meshes were prepared at different ratios 100/0, 90/10, 80/20 and 70/30 and characterized in terms of fiber diameter. The process was kept as green as possible by resorting to a combination of acetic acid and distilled water as solvents. Optimal conditions for PVA/CA processing were established at 29 kV, feeding rate of 0.8 mL/h and distance between needle and collector of 17 cm. These allowed for the most uniform fibers with the smallest diameters to be produced.Authors acknowledge the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT), FEDER funds by means of Portugal 2020 Competitive Factors Operational Program (POCI) and the Portuguese Government (OE) for funding the project PEPTEX with reference POCI-01-0145-FEDER-028074. Authors also acknowledge project UID/CTM/00264/2019 of Centre for Textile Science and Technology (2C2T), funded by national funds through FCT/MCTES