Disc-electrospun cellulose acetate butyrate nanofibers show enhanced cellular growth performances

Cellulose acetate butyrate nanofibers were prepared separately by two electrospinning techniques; a needleless electrospinning using a disc as spinneret and a rotary drum as collector and a conventional needle electrospinning using a rotary drum as collector. Compared to the needle-electrospun nanofibers, the disc-electrospun nanofibers were coarser with a wider diameter distribution. Both fibers had a similar surface morphology and they showed no difference in chemical components, but the disc-electrospun nanofibers were slightly higher in crystallinity. The productivity of disc electrospinning was 150 times larger than that of needle electrospinning. The disc-electrospun nanofiber mats were found to have a three dimensional fibrous structure with an average pore size of 9.1 μm, while the needle-electrospun nanofibers looked more like a two-dimensional sheet with a much smaller average pore size (3.2 μm). Fibroblasts and Schwann cells were cultured on the fibrous matrices to assess the biocompatibility. The disc-electrospun nanofiber webs showed enhanced cellular growth for both fibroblasts and Schwann cells, especially in a long culture period.