Molecularly Imprinted Polymers and Electrospinning: Manufacturing Convergence for Next-Level Applications

Micro- and especially nanofiber-type of materials are extremely attractive for a number of applications, ranging from separation and analysis to drug delivery and tissue engineering, and the majority of them are currently produced worldwide via the extremely popular and effective electrospinning technique. The addition of specific tailored molecular recognition capability to these electrospun materials via the established molecular imprinting technology can be extremely beneficial for a number of applications, as indicated by the number of examples in the literature over the past 15 years. However, the integration of these two technologies has proven to be quite challenging, mainly due to the different processing methodologies which characterize the two approaches. In this progress report, the practical difficulties related to the combination of electrospinning and molecular imprinting and to the production of molecularly imprinted electrospun fibers are addressed, discussing the main aspects to take into consideration when designing and optimizing the experimental protocols, as well as highlighting the most prolific research applications that have been explored thus far, to conclude with a commercial/industrial and economic perspective on the envisaged market for these hybrid products.