Abstract
In the last few years, micro/nanofibers of polycaprolactone/silk (PCL/S) blend have been investigated for biomaterial applications due to a valuable combination of biodegradability, biocompatibility, and bioactivity. However, in its most conventional conformation (i.e., mats), its use is limited by poor mechanical properties. One alternative to overcome such issue is the fabrication of nanofiber yarns (NF-Ys) which combines the inherent advantages of nanofibers with superior mechanical properties. Therefore, in this paper, we investigated the production of PCL/S NF-Y by electrospinning using a one step method, focusing on the effect of compositional and processing parameters, such as silk content (0–70%), flow rate, and rotatory collector speed on nanofibers morphology, tensile properties, and processability. SEM analyses and tensile tests showed that by adjusting such parameters, it is possible to change morphology and strength of the yarns. For instance, by decreasing rotary collector speed in the production of PCL/S 70:30 NF-Y, strength increased from 7.01 ± 1.10 to 12.71 ± 1.33 MPa. In this context, NF-Ys can be designed to fulfill specific demands by varying electrospinning and compositional parameters, making it possible to produce different structures with tailorable properties, for many applications, including biotextiles.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Laiva AL, Venugopal JR, Karuppuswamy P, Navaneethan B, Gora A, Ramakrishna S (2015) Controlled release of titanocene into the hybrid nanofibrous scaffolds to prevent the proliferation of breast cancer cells. Int J Pharm 483:115
Karuppuswamy P, Venugopal JR, Navaneethan B, Laiva AL, Sridhar S, Ramakrishna S (2014) Functionalized hybrid nanofibers to mimic native ECM for tissue engineering applications. Appl Surf Sci 322:62
Li L, Li H, Qian Y, Li X, Singh GK, Zhong L (2011) Electrospun poly (ε-caprolactone)/silk fibroin core-sheath nanofibers and their potential applications in tissue engineering and drug release. Int J Biol Macromol 49:223
Steffi C, Wang D, Kong CH, Wang Z, Lim PN, Shi Z (2018) Estradiol-loaded poly(ϵ-caprolactone)/silk fibroin electrospun microfibers decrease osteoclast activity and retain osteoblast function. ACS Appl Mater Interfaces 10:9988
Lv J, Chen L, Zhu Y, Hou L, Liu Y (2014) Promoting epithelium regeneration for esophageal tissue engineering through basement membrane reconstitution. ACS Appl Mater Interfaces 6:4954
Nazeer MA, Yilgor E, Yilgor I (2019) Electrospun polycaprolactone/silk fibroin nanofibrous bioactive scaffolds for tissue engineering applications. Polymer 168:86
Chen CH, Chen SH, Kuo CY, Li ML, Chen JP (2017) Response of dermal fibroblasts to biochemical and physical cues in aligned polycaprolactone/silk fibroin nanofiber scaffolds for application in tendon tissue engineering. Nanomaterials 7:219
Wang L, Wu Y, Hu T, Ma PX, Guo B (2019) Aligned conductive core-shell biomimetic scaffolds based on nanofiber yarns/hydrogel for enhanced 3D neurite outgrowth alignment and elongation. Acta Biomater 96:175
Yuan H, Shi H, Qiu X, Chen Y (2016) Mechanical property and biological performance of electrospun silk fibroin-polycaprolactone scaffolds with aligned fibers. J Biomater Sci Polym Ed 27:263
Jin D, Hu J, Xia D, Liu A, Kuang H, Du J, Mo X, Yin M (2019) Evaluation of a simple off-the-shelf bi-layered vascular scaffold based on poly(L-lactide-co-ε-caprolactone)/silk fibroin in vitro and in vivo. Int J Nanomed 14:4261
Zhou Y, Wang H, He J, Qi K, Ding B, Cui S (2018) Novel method for preparation of continuously twisted nanofiber yarn based on a combination of stepped airflow electrospinning and friction twisting. J Mater Sci 53(22):15735
Levitt AS, Knittel CE, Vallett R, Koerner M, Dion G, Schauer CL (2017) Investigation of nanoyarn preparation by modified electrospinning setup. J Appl Polym Sci 44813:1
Levitt AS, Vallett R, Dion G, Schauer CL (2018) Effect of electrospinning processing variables on polyacrylonitrile nanoyarns. J Appl Polym Sci 46404:1
Sun B, Li J, Liu W, Aqeel BM, El-Hamshary H, Al-Deyab SS, Mo X (2015) Fabrication and characterization of mineralized P(LLA-CL)/SF three-dimensional nanoyarn scaffolds. Iran Polym J 24(1):29
Zhang K, Cao N, Guo X, Zou Q, Zhou S, Yang R, Zhao W, Mo X, Liu W, Fu Q (2018) The fabrication of 3D surface scaffold of collagen/poly (L-lactide-co-caprolactone) with dynamic liquid system and its application in urinary incontinence treatment as a tissue engineered sub-urethral sling: in vitro and in vivo study. Neurourol Urodyn 37(3):978
Wu J, Liu S, He L, Wang H, He C, Fan C, Mo X (2012) Electrospun nanoyarn scaffold and its application in tissue engineering. Mater Lett 89:146
Zhang K, Guo X, Li Y, Fu Q, Mo X, Nelson K, Zhao W (2016) Electrospun nanoyarn seeded with myoblasts induced from placental stem cells for the application of stress urinary incontinence sling: an in vitro study. Colloids Surf B Biointerfaces 144:21–32
Wu S, Wang YS, Streubel PN, Duan B (2017) Living nanofiber yarn-based woven biotextiles for tendon tissue engineering using cell tri-culture and mechanical stimulation. Acta Biomater 62:102
Aghaei-Ghareh-Bolagh B, Mithieux SM, Hiob MA, Wang Y, Chong A, Weiss AS (2019) Fabricated tropoelastin-silk yarns and woven textiles for diverse tissue engineering applications. Acta Biomater 91:112
Wu T, Zhang J, Wang Y, Li D, Sun B, El-Hamshary H, Yin M, Mo X (2018) Fabrication and preliminary study of a biomimetic tri-layer tubular graft based on fibers and fiber yarns for vascular tissue engineering. Mater Sci Eng C 82:121
Luo J, Zhang H, Zhu J, CuiNGao XJ, Wang X, Jiong NX (2018) 3-D mineralized silk fibroin/polycaprolactone composite scaffold modified with polyglutamate conjugated with BMP-2 peptide for bone tissue engineering. Colloids Surf B Biointerfaces 163:369–378
Zhou J, Cao C, Ma X, Lin J (2010) Electrospinning of silk fibroin and collagen for vascular tissue engineering. Int J Biol Macromol 47(4):514
Wang F, Yu H, Yang ZG, Si L, Liu Q, Hu X (2017) Impact of calcium chloride concentration on structure and thermal property of Thai silk fibroin films. J Therm Anal Calorim 130(2):851
Chuang CC, Prasannan A, Hong P, Chiang MY (2018) Silk-sericin degummed wastewater solution-derived and nitrogen enriched porous carbon nanosheets for robust biological imaging of stem cells. Int J Biol Macromol 107:2122
Hu X, Kaplan D, Cebe P (2008) Dynamic protein-water relationships during β-sheet formation. Macromolecules 41(11):3939
He Z, Zhao T, Zhou X, Liu Z, Huang H (2017) Sequential order of the secondary structure transitions of proteins under external perturbations: regenerated silk fibroin under thermal treatment. Anal Chem 89(10):5534
Wang X, Zhao H, Turng L, Li SQ (2013) Crystalline morphology of electrospun poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL) nanofibers. Ind Eng Chem Res 52(13):4939
Kameda T, Tsukada M (2006) Structure and thermal analyses of MAA-grafted silk fiber using DSC and 13C solid-state NMR. Macromol Mater Eng 291(7):877. https://doi.org/10.1002/mame.200600081
Hu X, Wang X, Rnjak J, Weiss AS, Kaplan DL (2010) Biomaterials derived from silk-tropoelastin protein systems. Biomaterials 31(32):8121
Cebe P, Hu X, Kaplan DL, Zhuravlev E, Wurm A, Arbeiter D, Chick CS (2013) Beating the heat-fast scanning melts silk beta sheet crystals. Sci Rep 3:1. https://doi.org/10.1038/srep01130
Qiao X, Li W, Sun K, Xu S, Chen X (2009) Nonisothermal crystallization behaviors of silk-fibroin-fiber-reinforced poly(e-caprolactone) biocomposites. J Appl Polym Sci 111:2908
Gil-Castell O, Badia JD, Ribes-Greus A (2018) Tailored electrospun nanofibrous polycaprolactone/gelatin scaffolds into an acid hydrolytic solvent system. Eur Polym J 107:273
Gil-Castell O, Badia JD, Ontoria-Oviedo I, Castellano D, Sepúlveda P, Ribes-Greus A (2020) Polycaprolactone/gelatin-based scaffolds with tailored performance: in vitro and in vivo validation. Mat Sci Eng C 107:110296
Agrawal P, Pramanik K, Bissoyi A (2018) Novel Blowspun nanobioactive glass doped polycaprolactone/silk fibroin composite nanofibrous scaffold with enhanced osteogenic property for bone tissue engineering. Fibers polym 19(12):2465
Yin A, Li J, Bowlin GL, Li D, Rodriguez IA, Wang J, Wu T, El-Hamshary HA, Al-Deyab SS, Mo X (2014) Fabrication of cell penetration enhanced poly (l-lactic acid-co-e-caprolactone)/silk vascular scaffolds utilizing air-impedance electrospinning. Colloids Surf B Biointerfaces 120:47
Beachley V, Wen X (2009) Effect of electrospinning parameters on the nanofiber diameter and length. Mater Sci Eng C 29(3):663
Park JY, Lee IH, Bea GN (2008) Optimization of the electrospinning conditions for preparation of nanofibers from inylacetate (PVAc) in ethanol solvent. J Ind Eng Chem 14(6):707
Anaraki NA, Rad LR, Iran M, Haririan I (2014) Fabrication of PLA/PEG/MWCNT electrospun nanofibrous scaffolds for anticancer drug delivery. J Appl Polym Sci 132:41286
Theron SA, Zussman E, Yarin AL (2004) Experimental investigation of the governing parameters in the electrospinning of polymer solutions. Polymer 45(6):2017. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.polymer.2004.01.024
Fallahi D, Rafizadeh M, Mohammadi N, Vahidi B (2010) Effect of applied voltage on surface and volume charge density of the jet in electrospinning of polyacrylonitrile solutions. Polym Eng Sci 50:1372
Cramariuc B, Cramariuc R, Scarlet R, Manea LR, Lupu IG, Cramariuc O (2013) Fiber diameter in electrospinning process. J Electrost 71(3):189. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.elstat.2012.12.018
Wong SC, Baji A, Leng S (2008) Effect of fiber diameter on tensile properties of electrospun poly(ε-caprolactone). Polymer 49(21):4713
Steyaert I, Delplancke MP, Van Assche G, Rahier H, De Clerck K (2013) Fast-scanning calorimetry of electrospun polyamide nanofibres: Melting behaviour and crystal structure. Polymer 54(25):6809
Hajiani F, Jeddi A, Gharehaghaji A (2012) An investigation on the effects of twist on geometry of the electrospinning triangle and polyamide 66 nanofiber yarn strength. Fibers Polym 13(2):244
Hajiani F, Ghareaghaji AA, Jeddi A, Amirshahi SH, Mazaheri F (2014) Wicking properties of polyamide 66 twisted nanofiber yarn by tracing the color alteration in yarn structure. Fibers Polym 15:1966
He J, Qi K, Zhou Y, Cui S (2014) Multiple conjugate electrospinning method for the preparation of continuous polyacrylonitrile nanofiber yarn. J Appl Polym Sci 131(8):2
Jin S, Xin B, Zheng Y (2017) Preparation and characterization of polysulfone amide nanoyarns by the dynamic rotating electrospinning method. Text Res J 89(1):52
Jin S, Xin B, Zheng Y, Liu S (2018) Effect of electric field on the directly electrospun nanofiber yarns: simulation and experimental study. Fibers Polym 19(1):116
Funding
This research was supported by Fundação de Amparo a Pesquisa de Minas Gerais (FAPEMIG); Capes; and CNPq.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interests
The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.
About this article
Cite this article
Cotrim, M., Oréfice, R. Tailoring polycaprolactone/silk electrospun nanofiber yarns by varying compositional and processing parameters. Polym. Bull. 81, 593–610 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00289-023-04735-3
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00289-023-04735-3