Textile Fiber Production of Biopolymers - A Review of Spinning Techniques for Polyhydroxyalkanoates in Biomedical Applications

The superior biocompatibility and biodegradability of polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) compared to man-made biopolymers such as polylactic acid promise huge potential in biomedical applications, especially tissue engineering (TE). Textile fiber-based TE scaffolds offer unique opportunities to imitate the anisotropic, hierarchical, or strain-stiffening properties of native tissues. A combination of PHAs' enhanced biocompatibility and fiber-based TE scaffolds could improve the performance of TE scaffolds. However, the PHAs' complex crystallization behavior and the resulting intricate spinning procedures remain a challenge. This review focuses on discussing the developments in PHA melt and wet spinning, their challenges, process parameters, and fiber characteristics while revealing the lack of an in-depth fiber characterization of wet-spun fibers compared to melt-spun filaments, leading to squandered potential in scaffold development. Additionally, the biomedical application of PHAs other than poly-4-hydroxybutyrate is hampered by a failure of polymer purity to meet the requirements for biomedical applications.

Automated summary

Polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) have great potential in biomedical applications, especially tissue engineering, due to their superior biocompatibility and biodegradability. Textile fiber-based tissue engineering scaffolds can mimic the properties of native tissues, and combining them with PHAs can improve performance. However, the complex crystallization behavior of PHAs and the resulting spinning procedures are still challenging. Additionally, the biomedical application of PHAs is hindered by insufficient polymer purity.