Author(s)

Ivan L. Keranov, Marc Michel, Anelia Kostadinova, Valerie Toniazzo, David Ruch, Todorka Vladkova

Département of Advanced Materials and Structures, Centre de Recherché Public Henri Tudor, Esch sur Alzette, Luxembourg.
Department of Polymer Engineering, University of Chemical Technology and Metallurgy, Sofia, Bulgaria.
Institute of Biophysics and Biomedical Engineering, Bulgarian Academy of Science, Sofia, Bulgaria.

Here we report electrospinning of Poly(dimethylsiloxane-b-vinyl pyrrolidone) (PDMS-b-PVP) based fibrous scaffold materials. The morphology, thermal properties, surface composition, hydrophilicity and fibers formation with different PDMS and PVP chain lengths were determined by using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), X-ray photoelectron microscopy (XPS) and X-ray diffraction (RXD) water vapor uptake and water contact angle (WCA). The electrospinning parameters were controlled as well as fiber deposition area. The influence of polymer solution concentration on the morphology of electrospun fibers was also investigated. We checked out the applicability of the electrospun fibers for tissue engineering by the investigation of their capability to support fibroblast cell adhesion, cell growth and proliferation.

Electrospinning; Nanofibers; Amphiphilic Block Copolymers; PDMS; PVP; SEM

I. Keranov, M. Michel, A. Kostadinova, V. Toniazzo, D. Ruch and T. Vladkova, "Poly(N-Vinyl Pyrrolidone-b-Dimethylsiloxane) Electrospun Nanofibers: Preparation, Characterization and Biological Response," Open Journal of Biophysics, Vol. 3 No. 2, 2013, pp. 148-157. doi: 10.4236/ojbiphy.2013.32018.