Alginate-based nanofibrous scaffolds: Structural, mechanical, and biological properties

The fabrication of alginate-based nanofibers using electrospinning and the study of the structural, mechanical, and biological properties of the spun nanofibers was reported. It was found that alginate-PEO nanofibers exhibit good uniformity, structural integrity, and cellular compatibility. Electrospun alginate-based scaffolds were found to be cheap and easy to synthesize, process, and scale-up. it was shown that by cospinning alginate with other polymers, a variety of composite nanofibrous matrices with more complex structures and chemical compositions can be fabricated to better mimic natural extracellular matrix (ECM) for diverse tissue-engineering applications. It was found that by incorporating signaling ligands, nanofibrous matrices can be easily designed to elicit specific cellular responses.