The Potential of Electrospinning/Electrospraying Technology in the Rational Design of Hydrogel Structures

Hydrogels are soft materials with 3D cross-linked networks of polymer chains that can absorb and hold large amounts of water. Hydrogels have attracted great attention of both scientific and industrial communities due to their diverse and fascinating functional properties, as well as their wide range of applications. According to the logic that the structure determines function, the structure fabrication plays the key role in hydrogel science. Hence, the rational design of hydrogel structure is a targeted guarantee of functions and applications of hydrogels. Additionally, diverse needs in hydrogel functions and applications require complex, effective, and ingenious hydrogel structures. Hence, in the current review, the potential of electrospinning (E-spin)/electrospraying (E-spray) technology in the design of hydrogel structures is comprehensively summarized due to the fact that E-spin/E-spray technology has great value for fabricating a wide range of material structures with tunable size and morphologies. This review not only serves as a reference for improving the comprehensive understanding of the structural design ability of E-spin/E-spray technology, but also provides forward-looking ideas for utilizing E-spin/E-spray technique to fabricate hydrogels with different structure.