Aligned Electrospun Polyvinyl Pyrrolidone/Poly epsilon-Caprolactone Blend Nanofiber Mats for Tissue Engineering

Electrospun nanofibrous materials are widely used in medical applications such as tissue engineering scaffolds, wound dressing material and drug delivery carriers. For tissue engineering scaffolds, the structure of the nanofiber is similar to extracellular matrix (ECM) which promotes the cell growth and proliferation. In the present study, the aligned nanofiber mats of polyvinyl pyrrolidone (PVP) blended poly epsilon-caprolactone (PCL) was successfully generated using electrospinning technique. The morphology of PVP/PCL nanofiber mats were characterized by scanning electron microspore (SEM). The chemical and crystalline structure of PVP/PCL nanofiber mats were analyzed using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and powder X-ray diffactometer (PXRD). The water contact angle of mats was investigated. Cell culture studies using normal human fibroblasts (NHF) were performed to assess cell morphology, cell alignment and cell proliferation. The results indicated that the fiber were in nanometer range. The PVP/PCL was well dispersed in nanofiber mats and was in amorphous form. The water contact angle of PVP/PCL nanofiber mats was lower than PCL nanofiber mats. The PVP/PCL nanofiber mats exhibited good biocompatibility with NHF cells. In summary, the PVP/PCL nanofiber mats had potential to be used in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine.