Alicia Romero-Valdespino Gramage

Visiting Student (University Francisco de Vitoria, Spain)

Fabrication of metal-doped electrospun PCL fibers using benign solvents for wound healing purposes

 

Supervisors: Francesco Iorio, Prof. Aldo R. Boccaccini

This project focuses on the production and characterization of metal-doped polycaprolactone (PCL) electrospun fibers fabricated in a benign solvent system. While PCL is a synthetic, biodegradable, and biocompatible polymer employed for a wide range of applications in the context of tissue engineering and regenerative medicine, metal and metal oxide nanoparticles are recently obtaining medical relevance due to their antibacterial and wound healing properties [1]. With regards to green electrospinning, ion-releasing scaffolds with pro-angiogenic effects have been successfully fabricated before [2], and this study will further explore the incorporation of different metal salts into the scaffolds and their possible applications for wound healing.

]1] Alavi, M. & Nokhodchi, A. An overview on antimicrobial and wound healing properties of ZnO nanobiofilms, hydrogels, and bionanocomposites based on cellulose, chitosan, and alginate polymers. Carb Pol; 227(), 115349–; 2020.

[2] Gritsch, L. et al. Polycaprolactone electrospun fiber mats prepared using benign solvents: Blending with copper(II)-chitosan increases the secretion of vascular endothelial growth factor in a bone marrow stromal cell line. Macromol. Biosci; 20, 1900355; 2020.