Abstract
Electric field‐driven fiber formation (electrospinning) is developing into a practical means for preparing novel porous filament with unusual structures and affordable mechanical properties. Polycaprolactone (PCL) was dissolved in solvent mixtures of methylene chloride/N,N‐dimethyl formamide with ratios of 100/0, 75/25, and 50/50 (v/v) for electrospinning. The filament was formed by coagulation of the spinning solution following the well‐known principle of phase separation in polymer solutions valid in other wet shaping processes. A strand of electrospun porous filament consisted of fibers ranging from 0.5 to 12 μm in diameter. To evaluate the feasibility of three‐dimensional fabric as scaffold matrices, the plain weave, which is the simplest of the weaves and the most common, was prepared with porous PCL filament. The growth characteristics of MCF‐7 mammary carcinoma cells in the woven fabrics showed the important role of matrix microstructure in proliferation. This study has shown that woven fabrics, consisting of porous filaments via electrospinning, may be suitable candidates as tissue engineering scaffolds. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res Part B: Appl Biomater 72B: 117–124, 2005