Mathematical Modeling and Experimental Evaluation for the predication of single nanofiber modulus

Abstract

Electrospun nanofiber matrices are widely used as scaffolds for the regeneration of different tissues due to similarities with fibrous components of the extracellular matrix. These scaffolds could act as a substrate for inducing mechanical stimuli to cells. The main mechanical stimuli factor in nanofiber scaffolds for determining the cell behaviors is stiffness of single nanofibers. This paper especially highlights the finding that the young's modulus of single nanofibers can be obtained from aligned nanofibers matrix. It is assume that, the modulus of single nanofibers are equal to modulus of completely aligned nanofibers. However, due to difficulty of producing completely aligned nanofibers, the obtained modulus of single nanofiber wouldn't have significant value. Therefore, we propose a new mathematical model to predict the stiffness of single nanofibers from non-perfectly aligned nanofibers matrix.

Keywords: Aligned nanofibers; Mathematical model; Young's modulus of single nanofiber.