Behavior of Novel Electrospun Scaffolds

Electrospinning is the process of applying an electrical charge to spin out random fibers from a solution onto a surface. Electrospun scaffolds have applications in wound and tissue repair. This study was preformed to create and evaluate electrospun scaffolds for stability and future integration with biologic materials. Scaffolds were composed of polyethylene oxide (PEO), a synthetic polyester, beta lactoglobulin (BLG), a whey protein, and Rhodamine B, a fluorescent dye. The solution was spun for 24 hours. Afterwards, the scaffold was quartered and cross-linked by heat treatment in a 100° Celsius oven. Each section was removed at predetermined time points (12, 24, 48, and 72 hours). To test the stability of the scaffold, small circular pieces (0.25 in. diameter) of each quarter section were cut and placed in standard cell culture media. The media was analyzed daily with a spectrophotometer to evaluate Rhodamine B release from the scaffolds. High resolution fluorescent images were acquired using a confocal microscope to measure fiber diameter. Cross-linking had no significant effect on the fiber diameters in the scaffolds. However, there was a positive correlation between the length of crosslink time and the time for scaffolds to degrade in media. The Rhodamine B did elute from the scaffolds, as expected. However, this did not appear to influence fiber structure. In the future, increasing electrospinning and cross-linking times will be evaluated to create a more stable scaffold design.