Influence of Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles on the preparation of aligned PLGA electrospun fibers induced by magnetic field

The magnetic electrospinning (MES) method has been applied to generate aligned nanofibers. But researchers have different viewpoints on the usage of magnetic particles in the polymeric solutions. In order to investigate the effect of magnetic particles in forming the ordered fibers, the poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) solutions with or without Fe₃O ₄ nanoparticles were electrospun via MES. The fibers were compared at different voltages (13.5, 15.5, 17.5, and 19.5 kV) and flow rates (0.6, 0.9, 1.2, and 1.8 mL/h). It is shown that the well-aligned fibers can be fabricated by both magnetic and nonmagnetic solutions. The doping of Fe₃O ₄ nanoparticles can increase the aligned fibers in some degree, especially at high applied voltage and flow rate. The diameters of fibers electrospun by MES were smaller than those by conventional electrospinning, and the diameter of fibers by MES without magnet particles was the smallest.