Biomedical Nanoscience: Electrospinning Basic Concepts, Applications, and Classroom Demonstration
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Biomedical Nanoscience: Electrospinning Basic Concepts, Applications, and Classroom Demonstration Kristin J. Pawlowski1, Catherine P. Barnes1, Eugene D. Boland1, Gary E. Wnek2, Gary L. Bowlin1 1
Department of Biomedical Engineering, Virginia Commonwealth University P.O. Box 980694-0694, Richmond, VA, 23298-0694, U.S.A. 2 Department of Chemical Engineering, Virginia Commonwealth University P.O. Box 843068-3068, Richmond, VA, 23284-3068, U.S.A. ABSTRACT Electrospinning is an old polymer processing technique that has recently been rediscovered. It allows for the easy creation of nano- to micro-fibers that can be collected to form a non-woven structure, which can then be used to fabricate novel structures for various applications including tissue engineering scaffolds, clothing, drug delivery vehicles, and filtration media. Current research in our laboratories is focused on the processing of synthetic and biological polymers to create materials with tailored properties and functions for tissue engineering scaffolds and various other medical applications. This technology is revolutionizing the biomaterials and nanotechnology fields and has prompted us to incorporate its history, basic concepts, and applications into diverse courses such as Biomaterials, Tissue Engineering, Polymers in Medicine, and Senior Design in Chemical and Biomedical Engineering. This Innovation of the Curriculum is timely and crucial for multiple reasons. There is a need for a systematic approach to course structure that ties historical concepts to new materials and processes and, ultimately, to practical applications. Combining this lecture organization with active learning in the forms of open discussions and hands-on experiments/demonstrations will enhance learning outcomes (including retention and critical thinking) at all levels of education. At the undergraduate and graduate levels in the courses mentioned, discussions of electrospinning can create a classroom atmosphere of creative thinking, and an actual demonstration of nanomaterial fabrication can serve as a visual aid to the students. More importantly, this curriculum innovation can be used at the high school level to demonstrate nanotechnology and its applications to medicine, which will aid in sparking the interest of future generations of tissue engineers, biomaterial scientists, nanotechnologists, and scientists and engineers in general. ELECTROSPINNING OVERVIEW The beginnings of electrospinning can be traced back as far as Lord Rayleigh in the 19th Century [1]. He first experimented with determining the charge necessary on a droplet at the tip of a nozzle to overcome its surface tension and be ejected in a stream [2,3]. This work focused on a process that is very similar to electrospinning known as electrospraying. The two phenomena are essentially the same; however, for very low viscosity liquids, the jet that is ejected disintegrates into droplets due to overwhelming surface tension, resulting in a sprayed coating on the collection plate [4]. Zeleny further documented th
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