Melt electrowriting reinforced composite membrane for controlled drug release. (August 2022)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Xu, Ting; Gu, Jincheng; Meng, Jie; Du, Lei; Kumar, Alesh; Xu, Huaizhong
• Is Part Of: Journal of the mechanical behavior of biomedical materials. Volume 132(2022)
• Publication Date: 2022-08
• Subjects: Melt electrospinning -- 3D printing -- Mechanical properties -- Controlled drug release; Biomedical materials -- Periodicals; Biomedical materials -- Mechanical properties -- Periodicals; Biomedical materials; Biomedical materials -- Mechanical properties; Periodicals; Electronic journals; 610.28
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jmbbm.2022.105277
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1751-6161

Abstract

Abstract: An in-house built hybrid manufacturing device, combining the pros of melt electrowriting (MEW) and melt electrospinning (MES), is firstly proposed to produce a reinforced nonwoven fabric applied in drug delivery systems. MEW is used to print regular PCL lattice, followed by the deposition of a PCL nonwoven fabric loaded with drugs, forming a MEW/MES composite scaffold. Tensile test results suggest that after combining with MEW lattice, the strength of the composite scaffold can have a two-fold improvement and the elongation to break can increase up to 900%. Solvent vapor annealing is applied to adjust drug release rate through controlling the crystallinity of PCL. Although the increased crystallinity restrained drug release, a shish-kebab-shaped fiber structure formed by the annealing facilitates drug release. This MEW-based hybrid printing method can greatly enhance the freedom of making complex scaffold and extend to other nanotechnologies to fabricate reinforced scaffold as well. Graphical abstract: Image 1 Highlights: A melt-electrospinning based hybrid manufacturing method was firstly proposed. Melt electrowritten lattice enhanced the mechanical properties of the composite. Solvent vapor annealing precisely controlled the crystallinity of poly(caprolactone). Drug release rate can be controlled by the crystallinity of poly(caprolactone).