Elisa Piatti

Preparation and characterization of composite electrospun fibers containing bioactive glass powders

 

Investigator: Elisa Piatti (Visiting student, Politecnico of Turin, Italy)

Betreuer: Dr. Liliana Liverani, Prof. Dr.-Ing. habil. Aldo R. Boccaccini

Electrospinning is a well-established technique widely used for the fabrication of micro- and nanofibrous mats for numerous applications, including for the biomedical field, e.g. drug delivery and tissue engineering scaffolds [1]. Bioactive glasses (BGs) are non crystalline materials that are able to bond with living tissue and stimulate new tissue growth. Because of their high biomineralization ability, biodegradability osteogenic, and angiogenic potential, BGs are promising candidates for tissue-engineering applications. The aim of this master thesis project is the fabrication and characterization of composite electrospun fibers containing bioactive glass particles, following previous research studies at the Erlangen Institute of Biomaterials [2]. For the preparation of the fibers, the following material will be used: poly(e-caprolactone) and its blends, benign solvents and sol-gel bioactive glasses with different chemical compositions and different methods of synthesis. The processing parameters will be optimized, in order to enhance the potential of these composite materials for tissue application. This project is performed in collaboration with prof. Enrica Verne´ and Dr. Marta Miola, of Politecnico of Turin, Italy.

[1]L. Liverani and A. R. Boccaccini, “Versatile Production of Poly(Epsilon-Caprolactone) Fibers by Electrospinning Using Benign Solvents”, Nanomaterials/__, vol. 6, no. 4, p. 75, 2016.

[2]F. E. Ciraldo, L. Liverani, L. Gritsch, W. H. Goldmann, and A. R. Boccaccini, “Synthesis and characterization of silver-doped mesoporous bioactive glass and its applications in conjunction with electrospinning”, Materials (Basel)./__, vol. 11, no. 5, 2018_.