Direct electrospinning writing for producing 3D hybrid constructs consisting of microfibers and macro-struts for tissue engineering

Electrospinning has been widely used to fabricate micro/nano-sized fibers. However, use of three-dimensional (3D) scaffolds consisting only of electrospun micro/nanofibers has several limitations, such as inadequate mechanical properties and low pore-structure controllability. To overcome these challenges, we developed a new hybrid 3D scaffold, which was obtained by fusing two techniques: the conventional melt-plotting method and direct electrospinning writing (DE-writing). The macropores consisted of microsized struts in the hybrid scaffold were covered with size-controllable microfibrous mat obtained using direct electrospinning writing. By varying parameters of the direct electrospinning writing, such as the conical auxiliary electrode position, the width of the microfibrous mat on the melt-plotted structure could be controlled. This study proposes a new combinatory method of fabricating 3D hybrid scaffolds with reasonable mechanical properties and outstanding cellular activities consisting of melt-plotted struts with interlayered microfibrous mat. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.