Polymers for Melt Electrowriting

Overview

Journal Adv Healthc Mater

Specialties Biomedical Engineering
Biotechnology

Date 2020 Sep 17

PMID 32940962

Citations 43

Authors

Juliane C Kade

Paul D Dalton

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Melt electrowriting (MEW) is an emerging high-resolution additive manufacturing technique based on the electrohydrodynamic processing of polymers. MEW is predominantly used to fabricate scaffolds for biomedical applications, where the microscale fiber positioning has substantial implications in its macroscopic mechanical properties. This review gives an update on the increasing number of polymers processed via MEW and different commercial sources of the gold standard poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL). A description of MEW-processed polymers beyond PCL is introduced, including blends and coated fibers to provide specific advantages in biomedical applications. Furthermore, a perspective on printer designs and developments is highlighted, to keep expanding the variety of processable polymers for MEW.

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