Anisotropic properties of PCL/gelatin scaffolds obtained via electrospinning

Within the field of materials science and engineering, anisotropic materials outstand for their great versatility. Their properties are different depending on the direction in which they are produced, being able to adapt better to heterogeneous behaviors, typical in almost all applications (i.e. tissue engineering or architecture), without having to pursue a compromise in the properties of the material. In this work, a comparative study was carried out involving electrospun PCL/gelatin scaffolds obtained with different alignments. A mechanical and morphological characterization was conducted in the parallel and perpendicular directions with respect to the fiber formation with the aim of analyzing the anisotropy of the samples. The random system presented an imperfect homogeneous nanostructure, which made the scaffold to be isotropic, whereas the aligned system allowed the appearance of discontinuities, giving rise to fracture points (grains) and thus inducing the breakdown of the sample.