Facile electrospinning of an efficient drug delivery system

ABSTRACT

Introduction: Electrospinning is a facile method for fabricating fibers with diameters in the order of several nanometers to a few micrometers. This technology has great potential for preparing drug delivery systems (DDSs) and has received a great deal of attention in recent years. When combined with certain nanocarriers, such as micelles, nanoparticles or vesicles, an electrospun fiber membrane becomes an efficient and helpful platform for the above-mentioned formulations to achieve sustained and targeted drug release.

Areas covered: The developmental process of electrospinning technology is briefly summarized and the drugs and the materials electrospun into drug delivery systems are listed . The application of electrospinning technology in the biomedical field and its current progress are emphasized.

Expert opinion: A safe, efficient and multifunctional electrospinning drug delivery system is urgently needed, which requires further studies. Cross-disciplinary strategies that cover pharmaceutical science, material science and computer science may provide guidance in bringing electrospinning technology in drug delivery to fruition.

KEYWORDS:

• drug delivery system
• electrospinning
• multilevel structure
• nanofiber

Article highlights

• Brief origin and development of electrospinning technology.

• Basic set-up and process of electrospinning.

• Applications of electrospinning technology for DDSs.

• Several special structures of electrospun fiber mats and their unique properties.

This box summarizes key points contained in the article.

Declaration of interest

This work was financially supported by National Natural Sciences Foundation of China (31471286), National S&T Major Project (2015ZX09102010), and Sichuan Provincial Science and Technology Department Support Project (2011SZ0222). The authors have no other relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript apart from those disclosed.