Various micro/nano materials have been extensively studied for applications in tissue
engineering and energy storage. Tissue engineering seeks to repair or replace damaged
tissue by integrating approaches from cellular/molecular biology and material
chemistry/engineering. A major challenge is the consistent design of three-dimensional
(3D) scaffolds that mimic the structure and biological functions of extracellular matrix
(ECM), guide cell migration, provide mechanical support, and regulate cell activity.
Electrospun micro/nanofibers have been investigated as promising tissue engineering
scaffolds because they resemble native ECM and possess tunable surface morphologies.
Supercapacitors, one of the energy storage devices, bridge the performance gap between
rechargeable batteries and conventional capacitors. Active electrode materials of
supercapacitors must possess high specific surface area, high conductivity, and good
electrochemical properties. Carbon-based micro/nano-particles, such as graphene,
activated carbon (AC), and carbon nanotubes, are commonly used as active electrode
materials for storing charge in supercapacitors by the electrical double layer mechanism
due to their high specific surface area and excellent conductivity.
In this thesis, the mechanical properties of electrospun bilayer microfibrous membranes
were investigated for potential applications in tissue engineering. Bilayer microfibrous
membranes of poly(l-lactic acid) (PLLA) were fabricated by electrospinning using a
parallel-disk mandrel configuration, which resulted in the sequential deposition of a layer
with aligned fibers (AFL) across the two parallel disks and a layer with random fibers
(RFL), both deposited by a single process step. The membrane structure and fiber
alignment were characterized by scanning electron microscopy and two-dimensional fast
Fourier transform. Because of the intricacies of the generated electric field, the bilayer
membranes exhibited higher porosity than the membranes fabricated with a single drum
collector. However, despite their higher porosity, the bilayer membranes exhibited
generally higher elastic modulus, yield strength, and toughness than single-layer
membranes consisting of random fibers. Bilayer deformation at relatively high strain rates
comprised multiple abrupt microfracture events comprising discontinuous fiber breakage.
Bilayer membrane elongation yielded excessive necking of the RFL and remarkable fiber
stretching (on the order of 400%) of the AFL. In both layers, however, the fibers exhibited
multiple localized necking, attributed to the nonuniform distribution of crystalline phases
in the fibrillar structure. The high membrane porosity and good mechanical properties of
the electrospun bilayer membranes and good biocompatibility and biodegradability of
PLLA demonstrated in this work make these bilayer membranes good scaffold candidates
for various tissue engineering applications.
Furthermore, the bilayer PLLA scaffolds showed gradual variation in through-thickness
porosity and fiber alignment and an average porosity much higher than that of
conventionally electrospun scaffolds (controls) with randomly distributed fibers. The
biocompatibility and biological performance of the bilayer fibrous scaffolds was evaluated
by in vivo experiments involving subcutaneous scaffold implantation in Sprague-Dawley
rats, followed by histology and immunohistochemistry studies. The results illustrate the
potential of bilayer scaffolds to overcome major limitations of conventionally electrospun
scaffolds associated with intrinsically small pores, low porosity and, consequently, poor
cell infiltration. The significantly higher porosity and larger pore size of the RFL enhanced
cell motility through the scaffold thickness, whereas the relatively dense structure of the
AFL provided adequate mechanical strength. The bilayer scaffolds showed more than two
times higher cell infiltration than controls during implantation in vivo. Moreover, the
unique structure of bilayer scaffolds promoted collagen fiber deposition, cell proliferation,
and ingrowth of smooth muscle cells and endothelial cells in vivo. The results of this work
reveal the high potential of the fabricated bilayer fibrous scaffolds for tissue engineering
and regeneration.
Novel all-solid-state microsupercapacitors (MSCs) with 3D electrodes consisting of active
materials (i.e., graphene or AC particles) and a polymer electrolyte (PE) designed for high-
energy-density storage applications were fabricated and tested. The incorporation of a PE
in the electrode material enhanced the accessibility of the surface of active materials by
electrolyte ions and decreased the ion diffusion path during electrochemical
charging/discharging. For a scan rate of 5 mV s –1 , the MSCs with graphene/PE and AC/PE
composite electrodes demonstrated a very high areal capacitance of 95 and 134 mF cm –2 ,
respectively, comparable with that of 3D MSCs having a liquid electrolyte. In addition, the
graphene/PE MSCs showed ~70% increase in specific capacitance after 10,000
charge/discharge cycles, attributed to an electro-activation process resulting from ion
intercalation between the graphene nanosheets. The AC/PE MSCs also demonstrated
excellent stability. The obtained results illustrate the suitability of the present 3D MSCs for
various high-density solid-state energy storage applications.
Single-walled carbon nanotube (SWCNT) networks were deposited on an ultrathin
polyimide substrate using the spray-deposition technique and patterned into interdigital
electrodes to construct ultrahigh-power, extremely flexible, and foldable MSCs capable of
operating at an ultrahigh scan rate (up to 1000 V s –1 ) and delivering a stack capacitance of
18 F cm –3 and an energy density of 1.6 mWh cm –3 , which is comparable with that of lithium
thin-film batteries. An ultrahigh power density of 1125 W cm –3 and extremely small time
constant of 1 ms were obtained with SWCNT MSCs, comparable with aluminum
electrolytic capacitors. The present MSCs showed superior electrochemical stability, with
96% capacity retention after 100,000 cycles. Furthermore, these microdevices could be
reversibly and elastically bent, folded, and rolled without undergoing significant
performance degradation. The developed SWCNT MSCs demonstrate high potential for
integration in flexible and wearable electronic systems for high-rate energy storage or ac
line filtering.
A honeycomb polydimethylsiloxane substrate was introduced for stretchable MSC arrays
based on SWNCT interdigital electrodes, which enables facile integration in flexible or
wearable electronics. The honeycomb structure accommodates large deformation without
generating large strains in the MSCs and interconnects. The results show that such
stretchable MSC arrays with SWCNT electrodes demonstrate excellent rate capability and
power performance as well as electrochemical stability up to 150% (zero prestrain) or 275%
(–50% prestrain) stretching and under excessive bending or twisting. The present
stretchable MSC arrays with honeycomb structures show high potential for integration with
other electronics, such as energy harvesters, power management circuits, wireless charging
circuits, and various sensors, encompassing a wide range of wearable, bio-implantable
electronic systems.