Electrospun Polyurethane Nanofibrous Mats for Wound Dressing Applications

When the size of a material is reduced from micrometer to nanometer, the resultant properties can change dramatically. These properties include amazing characteristics such as a very large surface area to volume ratio, flexibility in surface functionalities, and superior mechanical performance (e.g. stiffness and tensile strength) compared with any other known form of the material. These exceptional properties make the polymer nanofibers ideal nominees for many significant applications. These one-dimensional (1D) nanostructured organic materials have gained constant scientific, technological, and industrial attention, with applications in fields such as air and water filtration, drug delivery, tissue engineering and regenerative medicine, active materials for photonics or electronics etc. Electrospinning has gained popularity in the last decade due in a large part to an increased interest in nanoscale properties and technologies. This method permits the production of polymer fibers with diameters changing from 3. nm to bigger than 5. μm. Electrospinning is considered a unique technology, not only due to its unmatched operational easiness, but also because of its effective upscaling, opening actual perspectives for industrial fabrication. The industrial applications of electrospinning have acquired special interest because the nanofibers have shown great potential in many fields due to its intriguing peculiarities including their in-principle extreme length (up to km), high surface area and tunable porosity, inherent three-dimensional (3D) topography, and functional properties.