Electrospinning nanofibers to 1D, 2D, and 3D scaffolds and their biomedical applications

Electrospinning is a popular and effective method of producing porous nanofibers with a large surface area, superior physical and chemical properties, and a controllable pore size. Owing to these properties, electrospun nanofibers can mimic the extracellular matrix and some human tissue structures, based on the fiber configuration. Consequently, the application of electrospun nanofibers as biomaterials, varying from two-dimensional (2D) wound dressings to three-dimensional (3D) tissue engineering scaffolds, has increased rapidly in recent years. Nanofibers can either be uniform fiber strands or coaxial drug carriers, and their overall structure varies from random mesh-like mats to aligned or gradient scaffolds. In addition, the pore size of the fibers can be adjusted or the fibers can be loaded with disparate medicines to provide different functions. This review discusses the various structures and applications of 2D fiber mats and 3D nanofibrous scaffolds made up of different one-dimensional (1D) fibers in tissue engineering. In particular, we focus on the improvements made in recent years, especially in the fields of wound healing, angiogenesis, and tissue regeneration.