Improvement of electrospun polymer fiber meshes pore size by femtosecond laser irradiation

Polymer meshes have recently attracted great attention due to their great variety of applications in fields such as tissue engineering and drug delivery. Poly(epsilon-caprolactone) nanofibers were prepared by electrospinning giving rise to porous meshes. However, for some applications in tissue engineering where, for instance, cell migration into the inner regions of the mesh is aimed, the pore size obtained by conventional techniques is too narrow. To improve the pore size, laser irradiation with femtosecond pulses (i.e., negligible heat diffusion into the polymer material and confined excitation energy) is performed. A detailed study of the influence of the pulse energy, pulse length, and number of pulses on the topography of electrospun fiber meshes has been carried out, and the irradiated areas have been studied by scanning electron microscopy, contact angle measurements and spectroscopic techniques. The results show that using the optimal laser parameters, micropores are formed and the nature of the fibers is preserved. (C) 2010 Elsevier B. V. All rights reserved.