Electrospun nanofibers for drug delivery

Electrospinning, a high-voltage-driven spinning technique, has the ability to fabricate multiscale fibers from a variety of materials. Its relatively high production rate, low setup cost, and easy operation receive great attention in material sciences and biomedical applications, especially in tissue regeneration and drug delivery. It is predominantly applied to polymeric materials, including synthetic, natural, or blended polymers. The possibility of temporospatially incorporating and releasing various bioactive molecules from electrospun fibers and yielding anisotropic fiber organization enables the recapitulation of the major features of native extracellular matrix and supports the adhesion and growth of various cells. Increasing evidence has proved their utility as biomimetic substrates for regenerating a variety of tissues, such as skin, bone, cardiovascular tissue, cornea, nerve, and many more. In this regard, this chapter first summarizes how various approaches have been taken to incorporate drugs (hydrophobic, hydrophilic, small-molecule, large-molecule, etc.) onto/into electrospun fibers, then discusses the drug release from the functionalized fibrous systems, and, at the end, highlights the utility of such multifunctional fibrous matrices for neural, vascular, cardiac, skin, and bone tissue engineering.