Loading...

Tailoring Microstructure of Porous Composite Architectures Fabricated via Electrospinning Followed by Solution Infiltration: New Designs for Adjustable Engineering Properties

Soleimani, Foad | 2022

0 Viewed
  1. Type of Document: Ph.D. Dissertation
  2. Language: Farsi
  3. Document No: 58094 (07)
  4. University: Sharif University of Technology
  5. Department: Materials Science and Engineering
  6. Advisor(s): Bagheri, Reza; Pellerin, Christian
  7. Abstract:
  8. Developing and functionally optimizing single and multi-component porous structures has been the interesting subject of numerous academic as well as industrial researches till now. This reflects various capabilities presented by such architectures for a range of applications including sensors, electronic devices, water/oil separation, filtration, food packaging, and bioengineering. Design and manufacture of a multi-component architecture with controlled microstructure is beneficial for obtaining a multifunctional device which provides a balance of physical and mechanical properties, biocompatibility, and so on. A fast-developing method for preparation of porous structures based on micro/nanofibers is electrospinning, which has become popular for its versatility, adjustability, and mass production capability. Although this method offers a high performance in fabrication of nanofibrous mats with enhanced properties such as higher strength to weight ratio, it still requires in-depth and systematic studies to make most out of the fabric’s properties. Moreover, it is crucial to understand the inner fibers’ structure as well as the fabrics’ structure in order to realize the structure/properties relationship especially in composite fabrics. Among the various methods of fabrication of composites based on electrospun fibers, solution infiltration is a relatively simple and tunable one. Here, solution infiltration was implemented for two purposes: unveiling the molecular dynamics and micromechanism of formation of polylactide electrospun fibers, and fabrication of multifunctional porous mats with enhanced properties for application as wound dressing. Fibers of different diameters and post-spinning treatments were extensively investigated by microscopy, thermal analysis, and crystal structure. The impact of highly-oriented noncrystalline phases on the fibers’ properties was demonstrated. Moreover, two biodegradable polymers, i.e. polyvinyl alcohol and starch, accompanied by curcumin as a model drug, were infiltrated into polylactide fabrics in order to prepare porous composite architectures with enhanced dry and wet tensile strength, hydrophilicity, controlled release, antioxidant activity, antibacterial activity, and acceptable cell viability in contact with human dermal fibroblast cell line. Such a performance introduces these fabrics as a promising candidate for tissue engineering applications
  9. Keywords:
  10. Electrospinning ; Nanofiber ; Molecular Dynamics ; Porous Structure ; Wound Dressing ; Curcumin ; Polylactide

 Digital Object List

 Bookmark

No TOC