Novel Twin Screw Co-Extrusion-Electrospinning Apparatus

The present work presents the design and construction of a device that allows for the continuous processing of a scaffold based on three interconnected steps: 1) melting for extrusion; 2) electrospinning for achieving nanoscale fibers and finally 3) exposure to UV radiation for reaching proper fiber crosslinking. All necessary for fabricating crosslinked networks or meshes with important applications in biomedicine.The suggested design, based on twin screw extrusion, meets the conventional methods of plastic extrusion at different temperatures and different loading and feeding speeds. This novel design includes a secondary feed port to incorporate other plastics, additives, or plasticizers. Therefore, it can be used like a co-extruder. In addition, by applying high voltage to the isolated output capillary, the device can act as an electro-spinning machine. This allows for obtaining a graduated ´layer by layer´ scaffolding generation, including phase separation during the melting process, which permits the production of scaffolds of a wide range of compositions, porosity and mechanical properties.