Fabrication of Aligned Nanofibers Along Z-Axis – A Novel 3D Electrospinning Technique

This study presents a 3D fabrication technique of nanofibrous scaffold for tissue engineering. A divergence static electric field was introduced in an electrospinning system to induce a self-assembly of aligned nanofibers into a tunable 3D architecture with thickness ranging from 2-12 mm. The effects of collector configuration on polycaprolactone (PCL) nanofiber attributes were investigated. Human fibroblast cells were cultured on the nanofiber scaffold in vitro for 7 days. It was found that the width and inclination angle of the collector influenced the nanofiber density distribution. The cells proliferated on the scaffold and organized as a fibrous matrix which mimicked the microstructure of native musculoskeletal tissues.