title: Mechanical behaviour of electrospun fibre-reinforced hydrogels.
abstract: Mechanically robust and biomimicking scaffolds are needed for structural engineering of tissues such as the intervertebral disc, which are prone to failure and incapable of natural healing. Here, the formation of thick, randomly aligned polycaprolactone electrospun fibre structures infiltrated with alginate is reported. The composites are characterised using both indentation and tensile testing and demonstrate substantially different tensile and compressive moduli. The composites are mechanically robust and exhibit large strains-to-failure, exhibiting toughening mechanisms observed in other composite material systems. The method presented here provides a way to create large-scale biomimetic scaffolds that more closely mimic the composite structure of natural tissue, with tuneable tensile and compressive properties via the fibre and matrix phases, respectively.
authors.affiliation: Engineering Department, Cambridge University, Trumpington St., Cambridge, CB2 1PZ, UK.
authors.forename: Daniel G T
authors.initials: DG
authors.lastname: Strange
authors.forename: Khaow
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Tonsomboon
authors.forename: Michelle L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Oyen
mesh_terms: D000464:Alginates / Q000737:chemistry*; D040761:Biomimetic Materials / Q000138:chemical synthesis*; D019245:Compressive Strength; D055119:Elastic Modulus; D004563:Electrochemistry / Q000379:methods*; D020723:Glucuronic Acid / Q000737:chemistry; D006244:Hardness; D006603:Hexuronic Acids / Q000737:chemistry; D020100:Hydrogels / Q000737:chemistry*; D008422:Materials Testing; D011091:Polyesters / Q000737:chemistry*; D012399:Rotation; D013314:Stress, Mechanical; D013718:Tensile Strength
chemical_list: D000464:Alginates; D006603:Hexuronic Acids; D020100:Hydrogels; D011091:Polyesters; C016240:polycaprolactone; D020723:Glucuronic Acid