Abu Owida Hamza, Al-Haj Moh'd Bashar, Al Takrouri Mohammad
Medical Engineering Department, Al-Ahliyya Amman University, Jordan.
Electrical Engineering Department, Al-Ahliyya Amman University, Jordan.
HardwareX. 2021 Dec 3;11:e00250. doi: 10.1016/j.ohx.2021.e00250. eCollection 2022 Apr.
Electrospinning is a cost-effective technique for synthesizing polymeric fibers with nanometers diameters. Electrospun nanofibers act as ideal scaffolds for tissue engineering and drug delivery systems because they can mimic the functions of native extracellular matrices. However, it is difficult to gathering nanofibers with simple design and reasonable price device. This study presents a cost effective and safe electrospinning system with similar capabilities to standard electrospinning device. As standard current electrospinning system consists of three constructed parts, a hand-constructed electrical power supply to provide a voltage source direct current (DC), a low cost three-dimensional (3D) printed syringe pump and handmade collectors. The device components are entirely constructed off-the-shelf components, and structural elements are 3D printer. The electrospinning process was carried out using PLA materials. The general parameters in the production process are resolution of the spraying rate and the power supply provides electricity in kilovolt. The prototype is an affordable device; its cost is around 99.5% less than the laboratory commercial devices. The average diameters of the fibers were determined from SEM micrographs with the aid of Image J software, which shows that the electrospinning device successfully produces fibres on a nanometer scale. Henceforth, this project can help educational institutions to have such electrospinning system with ultra-low cost comparing with readymade systems in the market.
静电纺丝是一种用于合成纳米级直径聚合物纤维的经济高效技术。静电纺丝纳米纤维可作为组织工程和药物递送系统的理想支架，因为它们能够模拟天然细胞外基质的功能。然而，使用设计简单且价格合理的设备来收集纳米纤维却很困难。本研究提出了一种具有与标准静电纺丝设备相似功能的经济高效且安全的静电纺丝系统。标准的电流静电纺丝系统由三个构建部分组成，一个手工构建的电源以提供直流电压源，一个低成本的三维（3D）打印注射泵和手工制作的收集器。该设备组件完全由现成的部件构建而成，结构元件采用3D打印机制作。静电纺丝过程使用聚乳酸材料进行。生产过程中的一般参数包括喷射速率分辨率以及电源以千伏为单位供电。该原型设备价格实惠，其成本比实验室商用设备低约99.5%。借助Image J软件从扫描电子显微镜图像中确定纤维的平均直径，结果表明该静电纺丝设备成功生产出了纳米级的纤维。从今往后，与市场上现成的系统相比，该项目能够帮助教育机构以超低的成本拥有这样的静电纺丝系统。
