Flexible polymer microtubes and microchannels via electrospinning

Here we report an approach to fabricate flexible polymer self standing films embedded with continuous aligned microtubes/microchannels via electrospinning. The scheme is to wash the electrospun fibers selectively to form either microtubes/microchannels. Optical microscope (OM) and Scanning electron microscope images are evident for the well aligned microtubes and microchannels respectively with a diameter of ∼8 μm and a length of ∼4 cm. Meniscus of tetrahydrofuran in the microtubes can be observed explicitly in the OM images. Mutually perpendicular microtubes are also fabricated on a polymer film. Angular distribution of aligned microstructures indicates the standard deviation is not more than 1°. These tubes/channels can be potential for tissue engineering as they could provide a directional template for the growth when a biodegradable polymer such as Poly(vinylalcohol) is used. © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.