Fabrication and Formation Mechanism of Electrospun Spatially Defined Fibrous Patterning Structures on Conductive and Insulating Substrates

Besides the conductive patterning substrate, spatially well-defined microfibrous architectures can also be electrospun by using an insulating topographically structured collector (e.g. a nylon fabric). In both cases, it is proposed that the formation of the electrospun microfibrous patterns can be ascribed to the re-distribution of static electric field whenever collectors with different topography are introduced. Moreover, a series of simulation of the static electric field for various collectors (e.g. flat Al foil, conductive and insulating patterned substrates) have been systematically made to illustrate the formation mechanism, respectively. Our results are considered to warrant further scientific understanding on the formation of electrospun microfibrous patterning constructs, and helpful for easy generation of spatially defined architectures which have applications in a variety of areas such as tissue engineering, cell adhesion, proliferation and migration, etc.