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Polymers
Special Issues
Electro-Fluid Dynamic Technologies for Bio-Applications
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Electro-Fluid Dynamic Technologies for Bio-Applications

A special issue of Polymers (ISSN 2073-4360). This special issue belongs to the section "Polymer Processing and Engineering".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 November 2020) | Viewed by 11658

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Vincenzo Guarino

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Guest Editor
Institute of Polymers, Composites and Biomaterials, National Research Council of Italy, Mostra d’Oltremare Pad.20, V.le J.F. Kennedy 54, 80125 Naples, Italy
Interests: biomaterials; scaffolds; electrospinning; electrospraying; hydrogel atomization
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Liliana Liverani

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, Cauerstr. 6, 91058 Erlangen, Germany
Interests: biomaterials for scaffold fabrication with different techniques (i.e. electrospinning, 3D printing, freeze drying, foam replica method), in particular with the aim to design scaffolds with gradients in composition and morphology able to mimic interface tissues; application of electrospun scaffolds for reproductive organs tissue engineering
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Claudia Vineis

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Institute of Intelligent Industrial Technologies and Systems for Advanced Manufacturing,National Research Council of ItalyCorso G. Pella 16, 13900 Biella, Italy
Interests: filtration; electrospinning; antibacterial materials; keratin

Special Issue Information

Summary

Dear Colleagues,

At present, a large variety of processes and tools are being deeply investigated to discover new solutions for the design of instructive platforms with controlled chemical, physical, and biological properties for different applications in the biomedical (e.g., tissue engineering and regenerative medicine, cancer therapy, drug delivery, nanomedicine for targeting diagnostic and theranostic use) and bio-environmental (e.g., filtering, active filtration, chemicals adsorption, pollutants removal, antimicrobial filters, smart packaging materials) fields.

In this context, electro-fluid dynamics (EFDs) are accredited as highly versatile and cost-effective processes to design green materials and/or biomaterials by the application of high-voltage electric fields, giving the  opportunity to minimize the effect of hazardous solvents and incorporate bio-active polymers (e.g., proteins, polysaccharides),  molecules (e.g., drugs,  growth factors) or inorganic (nano)particles (e.g., hydroxyapatite, bioactive glasses, iron oxide, or other metallic particles) by less-invasive chemical or physical approaches (e.g., blending, grafting, self-assembly). Moreover, the ability of electrostatic forces to interact with polymers in solutions under controlled process conditions can enable the production of fibers and/or particles at micro and/or nanometric scale that are suitable not only for laboratory research activities but also for commercial applications at a larger scale. Indeed, EFDs can be extensively customizable in terms of experimental setups at the level of spinnerets (i.e., coaxial, needleless, multiple needle) and collectors (i.e., collector masking, rotating elements, temperature control) for the generation of a large variety of 2D/3D platforms with tunable morphological/chemical/physical patterns.

We would like to invite you to contribute to this Special Issue focused on Electro-Fluid Dynamic Technologies for Bio-Applications. Research topics of interest include, but are not limited to, recent advances related to technology and materials science as well as the description of novel ideas/proof-of-concept studies addressing the development of new solutions for healthcare and environmental applications.  Both original articles and reviews are welcome.

Guest Editors

Dr. Vincenzo Guarino, Dr. Liliana Liverani, Dr. Claudia Vineis

Dr. Vincenzo Guarino
Dr. Liliana Liverani
Dr. Claudia Vineis
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Polymers is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • nanofibers
  • nanoparticles
  • smart textiles
  • functionalization/coatings
  • core–shell
  • nanocomposites
  • membranes
  • filters
  • scaffolds

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

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26 pages, 9064 KiB  
Article
Poly(ε-caprolactone) Titanium Dioxide and Cefuroxime Antimicrobial Scaffolds for Cultivation of Human Limbal Stem Cells
by Mirna Tominac Trcin, Emilija Zdraveva, Tamara Dolenec, Ivana Vrgoč Zimić, Marina Bujić Mihica, Ivanka Batarilo, Iva Dekaris, Valentina Blažević, Igor Slivac, Tamara Holjevac Grgurić, Emi Govorčin Bajsić, Ksenija Markov, Iva Čanak, Sunčica Kuzmić, Anita Tarbuk, Antoneta Tomljenović, Nikolina Mrkonjić and Budimir Mijović
Polymers 2020, 12(8), 1758; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym12081758 - 06 Aug 2020
Cited by 14 | Viewed by 3241
Abstract
Limbal Stem Cell Deficiency (LSCD) is a very serious and painful disease that often results in impaired vision. Cultivation of limbal stem cells for clinical application is usually performed on carriers such as amniotic membrane or surgical fibrin gel. Transplantation of these grafts [...] Read more.
Limbal Stem Cell Deficiency (LSCD) is a very serious and painful disease that often results in impaired vision. Cultivation of limbal stem cells for clinical application is usually performed on carriers such as amniotic membrane or surgical fibrin gel. Transplantation of these grafts is associated with the risk of local postoperative infection that can destroy the graft and devoid therapeutic benefit. For this reason, electrospun scaffolds are good alternatives, as proven to mimic the natural cells surroundings, while their fabrication technique is versatile with regard to polymer functionalization and scaffolds architecture. This study considers the development of poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL) immune-compatible and biodegradable electrospun scaffolds, comprising cefuroxime (CF) or titanium dioxide (TiO2) active components, that provide both bactericidal activity against eye infections and support of limbal stem cells growth in vitro. The PCL/CF scaffolds were prepared by blend electrospinning, while functionalization with the TiO2 particles was performed by ultrasonic post-processing treatment. The fabricated scaffolds were evaluated in regard to their physical structure, wetting ability, static and dynamic mechanical behaviour, antimicrobial efficiency and drug release, through scanning electron microscopy, water contact angle measurement, tensile testing and dynamic mechanical analysis, antimicrobial tests and UV-Vis spectroscopy, respectively. Human limbal stem cells, isolated from surgical remains of human cadaveric cornea, were cultured on the PCL/CF and PCL/TiO2 scaffolds and further identified through immunocytochemistry in terms of cell type thus were stained against p63 marker for limbal stem cells, a nuclear transcription factor and cytokeratin 3 (CK3), a corneal epithelial differentiation marker. The electrospun PCL/CF and PCL/TiO2 successfully supported the adhesion, proliferation and differentiation of the cultivated limbal cells and provided the antimicrobial effect against Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcus aureus and Candida albicans. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Electro-Fluid Dynamic Technologies for Bio-Applications)
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Review

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32 pages, 2453 KiB  
Review
Topographical and Biomechanical Guidance of Electrospun Fibers for Biomedical Applications
by Sara Ferraris, Silvia Spriano, Alessandro Calogero Scalia, Andrea Cochis, Lia Rimondini, Iriczalli Cruz-Maya, Vincenzo Guarino, Alessio Varesano and Claudia Vineis
Polymers 2020, 12(12), 2896; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym12122896 - 03 Dec 2020
Cited by 32 | Viewed by 3513
Abstract
Electrospinning is gaining increasing interest in the biomedical field as an eco-friendly and economic technique for production of random and oriented polymeric fibers. The aim of this review was to give an overview of electrospinning potentialities in the production of fibers for biomedical [...] Read more.
Electrospinning is gaining increasing interest in the biomedical field as an eco-friendly and economic technique for production of random and oriented polymeric fibers. The aim of this review was to give an overview of electrospinning potentialities in the production of fibers for biomedical applications with a focus on the possibility to combine biomechanical and topographical stimuli. In fact, selection of the polymer and the eventual surface modification of the fibers allow selection of the proper chemical/biological signal to be administered to the cells. Moreover, a proper design of fiber orientation, dimension, and topography can give the opportunity to drive cell growth also from a spatial standpoint. At this purpose, the review contains a first introduction on potentialities of electrospinning for the obtainment of random and oriented fibers both with synthetic and natural polymers. The biological phenomena which can be guided and promoted by fibers composition and topography are in depth investigated and discussed in the second section of the paper. Finally, the recent strategies developed in the scientific community for the realization of electrospun fibers and for their surface modification for biomedical application are presented and discussed in the last section. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Electro-Fluid Dynamic Technologies for Bio-Applications)
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15 pages, 2427 KiB  
Review
Impact of Apparatus Orientation and Gravity in Electrospinning—A Review of Empirical Evidence
by Sinduja Suresh, Alexander Becker and Birgit Glasmacher
Polymers 2020, 12(11), 2448; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym12112448 - 22 Oct 2020
Cited by 29 | Viewed by 4211
Abstract
Electrospinning is a versatile fibre fabrication method with applications from textile to tissue engineering. Despite the appearance that the influencing parameters of electrospinning are fully understood, the effect of setup orientation has not been thoroughly investigated. With current burgeoning interest in modified and [...] Read more.
Electrospinning is a versatile fibre fabrication method with applications from textile to tissue engineering. Despite the appearance that the influencing parameters of electrospinning are fully understood, the effect of setup orientation has not been thoroughly investigated. With current burgeoning interest in modified and specialised electrospinning apparatus, it is timely to review the impact of this seldom-considered parameter. Apparatus configuration plays a major role in the morphology of the final product. The primary difference between spinning setups is the degree to which the electrical force and gravitational force contribute. Since gravity is much lower in magnitude when compared with the electrostatic force, it is thought to have no significant effect on the spinning process. But the shape of the Taylor cone, jet trajectory, fibre diameter, fibre diameter distribution, and overall spinning efficiency are all influenced by it. In this review paper, we discuss all these developments and more. Furthermore, because many research groups build their own electrospinning apparatus, it would be prudent to consider this aspect as particular orientations are more suitable for certain applications. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Electro-Fluid Dynamic Technologies for Bio-Applications)
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