Fabrication challenges and trends in biomedical applications of alginate electrospun nanofibers

Alginate as a naturally-derived biomaterial with marine algae sources has gained much attention in both laboratorial and industrial applications due to its structural and chemical resemblance to extracellular matrix (ECM) as well as desirable properties like biocompatibility, biodegradability, processability and low cost. Electrospun alginate nanofibrous scaffolds have found wide applications in biomedical field such as tissue engineering, biomedicine and drug delivery systems. However, electrospinning of alginate is challenging due to the low solubility and high viscosity of high molecular weight alginate, high density of intra- and intermolecular hydrogen bonding, polyelectrolyte nature of aqueous solution and lack of appropriate organic solvent. The aim of this review is to summarize the challenges and obstacles in alginate electrospinning reported in the literature as well as the introduced solutions for them, in order to open new opportunities for more intended and successful investigations in the field.