title: Biodegradable polymers for electrospinning: towards biomedical applications.
abstract: Electrospinning has received much attention recently due to the growing interest in nano-technologies and the unique material properties. This review focuses on recent progress in applying electrospinning technique in production of biodegradable nanofibers to the emerging field of biomedical. It first introduces the basic theory and parameters of nanofibers fabrication, with focus on factors affecting the morphology and fiber diameter of biodegradable nanofibers. Next, commonly electrospun biodegradable nanofibers are discussed, and the comparison of the degradation rate of nanoscale materials with macroscale materials are highlighted. The article also assesses the recent advancement of biodegradable nanofibers in different biomedical applications, including tissue engineering, drug delivery, biosensor and immunoassay. Future perspectives of biodegradable nanofibers are discussed in the last section, which emphasizes on the innovation and development in electrospinning of hydrogels nanofibers, pore size control and scale-up productions.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Materials Research and Engineering (IMRE) Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), 3 Research Link, Singapore 117602, Singapore.
authors.forename: Dan
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Kai
authors.affiliation: Institute of Materials Research and Engineering (IMRE) Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), 3 Research Link, Singapore 117602, Singapore.
authors.forename: Sing Shy
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Liow
authors.affiliation: Institute of Materials Research and Engineering (IMRE) Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), 3 Research Link, Singapore 117602, Singapore; Department of Materials Science and Engineering, National University of Singapore, 9 Engineering Drive 1, Singapore 117576, Singapore; Singapore Eye Research Institute, 11 Third Hospital Avenue, Singapore 168751, Singapore. Electronic address: lohxj@imre.a-star.edu.sg.
authors.forename: Xian Jun
authors.initials: XJ
authors.lastname: Loh
mesh_terms: D001672:Biocompatible Materials / Q000737:chemistry*; D015374:Biosensing Techniques; D004337:Drug Carriers / Q000737:chemistry; D020100:Hydrogels / Q000737:chemistry; D057139:Nanofibers / Q000737:chemistry; D011108:Polymers / Q000737:chemistry*; D023822:Tissue Engineering
chemical_list: D001672:Biocompatible Materials; D004337:Drug Carriers; D020100:Hydrogels; D011108:Polymers
keywords: Biodegradable polyesters; Biosensors; Drug delivery; Electrospun nanofibers; Tissue engineering