Open Access Conference Proceedings

Air-jet spinning (or solution blowing) is a method of nanofibrous production using high-velocity gas flow of air or gas to transform drops of a polymer solution into fibers. The technology is promising for relatively safe applying nanofibers directly to wounds, in-situ application. In this work, air-jet spinning of several polycaprolactone (PCL) and poly(L-lactic acid) (PLLA) solutions was performed utilizing a commercial airbrush for possible in situ application of skin wound dressings and for the production of flat samples of nanofibrous materials for further in-vitro testing. The average fiber diameters of air-jet spun materials were set 268 nm (6 wt% PCL in dichloromethane (DCM)), 305 nm (8 wt% PCL in DCM), 333 nm (10 wt% PCL in DCM) and 223 nm (6 wt% PLLA in chloroform (CF)). Cytotoxicity of fibrous mats and DNA quantification were investigated. The results showed that air-jet spun mats are nontoxic to mouse fibroblasts and the cell count significantly increased on the mats in comparison to the negative controls. Chemical changes in the biodegradable polymers structure and residual solvents in the fibrous mats were not found using Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy. The degree of crystallinity was set for fibers from 8 wt% PCL in DCM ‒ 58.9 %; 10 wt% PCL in DCM ‒ 56.4 % and 6 wt% PLLA in CF ‒ 22.0% via differential scanning calorimetry. The results of the tests performed show that air-jet spun PCL materials could be useful for in situ application of skin wound dressings.

Keywords: Air-jet spinning, airbrush, in situ deposition, nanofibrous scaffold, skin wound dressing

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