Polymeric nanofibers are attractive for a number of tissue engineering applications. Nanofibers can be generated easily via electrospinning, and their morphology and dimensions can be tuned easily with solvent, concentration and processing conditions. Apart from the physical characteristics of nanofibers, the biochemical effects that are induced from the bioactive motifs presented on the surface of nanofibers also play an important role in the resulting behavior of cells on the materials. Efficient chemical methods aiming at efficient modification of electrospun fibers are needed to enhance their bioactive properties in vitro and in vivo. In our research, 4-dibenzocyclooctynol (DIBO) and its derivative were used as initiators for the ring-opening polymerization of a number of different monomers to generate functional polymers like DIBO-PBLG, DIBO-PCL, DIBO-PLA, DIBO-(P(CL-co-OPD)) and so on. The presence of a DIBO group at the chain end of the polymers enables efficient and metal-free functionalization post-electrospinning (Figure 1). Combined with other types of efficient chemical methods, di-functionalized and tri-functionalized nanofibers were also constructed for the study of synergistic effects in tissue engineering

Post-electrospinning derivatization of polymer nanofibers with bioactive species using translationally-relevant chemical methods

249th National Meeting (2015)

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