Corona Discharge: A Novel Approach To Fabricate Three-Dimensional Electrospun Nanofibers for Bone Tissue Engineering

The electrospinning process produces dense two-dimensional (2D) nanofiber (NF) sheets with small pore size that limits cell infiltration and proliferation. This study aims to fabricate three-dimensional (3D) NF sheets by designing a NF collector mounted with multiple movable needles. The corona discharge effect leads to continuous deposition of 3D polycaprolactone (PCL) NF matrices on the surface of the NF collector. The increase of the pore size, pore volume, and pore interconnectivity of the formed 3D NF sheet was confirmed by scanning electron microscopy, 3D confocal laser scanning microscopy, and micro-computerized tomography, respectively. An increased crystallinity of 3D NFs was observed by thermal and rheological analysis. Furthermore, cell growth on the 3D NF matrices was evaluated using murine pre-osteoblastic MC3T3 cells. When compared with 2D NF matrices, 3D NF matrices demonstrated enhanced cell infiltration, proliferation, and differentiation. We believe that a corona discharge-based NF collector design represents a promising approach to fabricate 3D NF matrices with desirable geometry, and microstructure. This simple, controllable, one-step process may help move forward the clinical translation of electrospun NFs in regenerative medicine.