Fabrication of nanofibrous scaffolds for tissue engineering applications

Nanofibrous scaffolds which mimic the structural features of a natural extracellular matrix (ECM) can be appealing scaffold candidates for tissue engineering as they provide similar physical cues to the native environment of the targeted tissue to regenerate. This chapter discusses different strategies to fabricate nanofibrous scaffolds for tissue engineering. We first describe three major methods for nanofibrous scaffold fabrication: molecular self-assembly, phase separation, and electrospinning. Then, approaches for surface modification of nanofibrous scaffolds including blending and coating, plasma treatment, wet chemical methods, and surface graft polymerization are presented. Finally, applications of nanofibrous scaffolds in tissue engineering are introduced