Nature Inspired Composite Nanofibers

Abstract

Bone is a mechanically strong natural composite that is made out of relatively weak organic nanofibers and calcium phosphate nanoparticles. Replicating bone structure from the bottom-up would be the first step to greater understanding of the interactions between the structure, materials and organization of the nano-components and may lead to a novel bone regenerative scaffold. To replicate bone structure, a novel nanofibrous yarn spinning technique was developed. The yarn spinning technique was modified to fabricate 3D nanofibrous scaffold. Mineralization of the 3D nanofibrous scaffold resulted in a 3D nanofibrous composite scaffold with the same organic nanofiber and inorganic nanoparticle components found in bone. Mechanical testing showed that organization of the inorganic nanoparticles on the nanofibers plays a key role in the compressive strength of the resultant nature inspired composite nanofibrous structure.