Electrospun polymers: Using devices to enhance their potential for biomedical applications

Polymers have made a significant contribution to the development of biomedicine. Electrospinning technology is widely used to prepare nanofibers of polymers for biomedical applications. In current biomedical research, researchers optimise their studies mainly by changing environmental factors and the composition of the precursor polymer solution, but equipment factors are often overlooked. In fact, sometimes only minor adjustments to the equipment can be used to achieve application requirements. This paper explains the principle and influencing factors of electrospinning, and reviews the specific effects of electrospinning nozzles, collectors and auxiliary devices on polymer fibers in electrospinning technology. Understanding devices can help us simplify the solution formulation screening process in electrospinning technology and increase the upper limit of fiber topography optimization in traditional polymer electrospinning. Furthermore, electrospun polymers show very good application prospects in the biomedical field, and the article mainly introduces such as drug delivery, wound dressings, tissue engineering, biosensors, protective masks or garments. We propose a more suitable scheme for electrospinning of polymers from an equipment perspective.