An Environmentally Safe Alternating Field Electrospinning Fabrication and Physical Crosslinking alternative for polymer-based nanofibrous Scaffolds.

As electrospun nanofibrous, NF, scaffolds become more prevalent in tissue engineering the need for a safe, sustainable method to crosslink these NF scaffolds also increases. The material focused on is a sustainable Alternating Field Electrospun, AFES, NF polymer-based scaffold fabricated through a complex electrohydrodynamic technique. AFES was chosen due to its natural affinity to mimic the body's extracellular matrix and capability to electrospin a pure aqueous solution. In addition to the "green" NF scaffolds, sustainable physical crosslinking which incorporated a reducing sugar additive of N-Acetyl-Glucosamine, AGA, was utilized with thermal crosslinking, TX, to avoid harsh chemical treatment. The as-spun NFs were TX from 100°C to 180°C over varying time periods. Each scaffolds' crosslinking degree was determined by a degradation test in synthetic body fluid at 37°C for one week. The scaffolds TX at 100°C showed the least amount of crosslinking while scaffolds TX at 180°C showed lower cell viability. The amount of reducing sugar AGA incorporated did not show a strong statistical significance in mass retention. To further assess the physical crosslinking effect on cell viability, the hydrophilic nature of the NF scaffolds' surface was measured with a Rame-Hart Goniometer. The AFES NF scaffolds focused on held the largest crosslinking degree and each showed a hydrophilic nature with good potential for cell proliferation with scale-up fabrication.