As the demand for materials in biomedical fields grows, aerogels are regarded as promising new materials. Cellulose aerogel is biocompatible, highly porous, and with adjustable mechanical properties and has the potential to be used in wound dressing applications. On the other hand, current aerogels have poor mechanical properties, a lack of simple and scalable processing methods, and difficult fabrication procedures. In this study, an innovative technique called solution blow spinning (SBS) for spinning micro- /nano- fibers has been combined with supercritical carbon dioxide (scCO2) drying for the development of highly porous cellulose aerogel nonwovens (CAN). Bioactive agent thymol was added to the fibers with scCO2 drying to have drug-loaded material. Also, a gas-phase esterification reaction is used for surface modification. In this study, also single fibers were developed with a wet spinning technique in which cellulose was combined with chitosan to increase the antibacterial properties of the fibers. The fibers were produced during this project and analyzed upon structural and morphological analysis. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images were able to show the resulting nanoporous Intra and inter-molecular porosity. The fiber’s biocompatibility was determined by XTT assay, which was able to show the non-toxic properties of fibers. The wound healing properties of the material were confirmed using a cell scratch assay. Similarly, XTT and cell scratch assays with free thymol were performed to examine the interaction of the thymol with cells in the absence of fibers. Mechanical biaxial testing for fiber mechanical assessments was investigated. Finally, the 3D skin model revealed that the cellulose aerogel nonwoven fibers required additional direct cell contact experiments before being examined with the 3D skin model. All this considered, this novel cellulose aerogel nonwoven material showed great potential for taking over the current market in materials for biomedical applications such as wound dressing, but further experiments are needed.
Con la crescita della domanda di materiali nei campi biomedici, gli aerogel sono considerati nuovi materiali promettenti. L'aerogel di cellulosa è biocompatibile, altamente poroso e con proprietà meccaniche regolabili e ha il potenziale per essere utilizzato nelle applicazioni di medicazione delle ferite. D'altra parte, gli attuali aerogel hanno scarse proprietà meccaniche, una mancanza di metodi di elaborazione semplici e scalabili e procedure di fabbricazione difficili. In questo studio, una tecnica innovativa chiamata solution blow spinning (SBS) per la filatura di micro-/nano-fibre è stata combinata con l'essiccazione di anidride carbonica supercritica (scCO2) per lo sviluppo di tessuti non tessuti in aerogel di cellulosa (CAN) altamente porosi. L'agente bioattivo timolo è stato aggiunto alle fibre con essiccazione di scCO2 per avere materiale carico di farmaco. Inoltre, per la modifica della superficie viene utilizzata una reazione di esterificazione in fase gassosa. In questo studio sono state sviluppate anche fibre singole con una tecnica di filatura a umido in cui la cellulosa è stata combinata con chitosano per aumentare le proprietà antibatteriche delle fibre. Le fibre sono state prodotte durante questo progetto e analizzate in base ad analisi strutturali e morfologiche. Le immagini al microscopio elettronico a scansione (SEM) sono state in grado di mostrare la porosità nanoporosa intra e intermolecolare risultante. La biocompatibilità della fibra è stata determinata dal test XTT, che è stato in grado di mostrare le proprietà non tossiche delle fibre. Le proprietà di guarigione della ferita del materiale sono state confermate utilizzando un test di graffio cellulare. Allo stesso modo, sono stati eseguiti test XTT e cell scratch con timolo libero per esaminare l'interazione del timolo con le cellule in assenza di fibre. È stato studiato il test biassiale meccanico per le valutazioni meccaniche delle fibre. Infine, il modello di pelle 3D ha rivelato che le fibre non tessute di aerogel di cellulosa richiedevano ulteriori esperimenti di contatto cellulare diretto prima di essere esaminate con il modello di pelle 3D. Tutto ciò considerato, questo nuovo materiale non tessuto in aerogel di cellulosa ha mostrato un grande potenziale per conquistare l'attuale mercato dei materiali per applicazioni biomediche come la medicazione delle ferite, tuttavia sono necessari ulteriori esperimenti.
Analyzing the performance of novel aerogel wound dressing
GHAHRAMANI, AILIN
2021/2022
Abstract
As the demand for materials in biomedical fields grows, aerogels are regarded as promising new materials. Cellulose aerogel is biocompatible, highly porous, and with adjustable mechanical properties and has the potential to be used in wound dressing applications. On the other hand, current aerogels have poor mechanical properties, a lack of simple and scalable processing methods, and difficult fabrication procedures. In this study, an innovative technique called solution blow spinning (SBS) for spinning micro- /nano- fibers has been combined with supercritical carbon dioxide (scCO2) drying for the development of highly porous cellulose aerogel nonwovens (CAN). Bioactive agent thymol was added to the fibers with scCO2 drying to have drug-loaded material. Also, a gas-phase esterification reaction is used for surface modification. In this study, also single fibers were developed with a wet spinning technique in which cellulose was combined with chitosan to increase the antibacterial properties of the fibers. The fibers were produced during this project and analyzed upon structural and morphological analysis. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images were able to show the resulting nanoporous Intra and inter-molecular porosity. The fiber’s biocompatibility was determined by XTT assay, which was able to show the non-toxic properties of fibers. The wound healing properties of the material were confirmed using a cell scratch assay. Similarly, XTT and cell scratch assays with free thymol were performed to examine the interaction of the thymol with cells in the absence of fibers. Mechanical biaxial testing for fiber mechanical assessments was investigated. Finally, the 3D skin model revealed that the cellulose aerogel nonwoven fibers required additional direct cell contact experiments before being examined with the 3D skin model. All this considered, this novel cellulose aerogel nonwoven material showed great potential for taking over the current market in materials for biomedical applications such as wound dressing, but further experiments are needed.| File | Dimensione | Formato | |
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https://hdl.handle.net/10589/194896