Cellulose nanocrystal effect on crystallization kinetics and biological properties of electrospun polycaprolactone
Abstract
Mechanical properties of tissue engineering nanofibrous scaffolds are of importance because they not only determine their ease of application, but also influence the environment for cell growth and proliferation. Cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) are natural renewable nanoparticles that have been widely used for manipulating nanofibers' mechanical properties. In this article, cellulose nanoparticles were incorporated into poly(caprolactone) (PCL) solution, and composite nanofibers were produced. Ozawa-Flynn-Wall (OFW) methodology and X-ray diffraction were used to investigate the effect of CNC incorporation on PCL crystalline structure and its biological properties. Results showed that CNC incorporation up to 1% increases the crystallization activation energy and reduces the crystal volume, while these factors remain constant above this critical concentration. MTT assay and microscopic images of seeded cells on the nanofiber scaffolds indicated increased cell growth on the samples containing CNC. This behavior could be attributed to their greater hydrophilicity, which was confirmed using parallel exponential kinetics (PEK) model fitting to results obtained from dynamic vapor sorption (DVS) studies. Superior performance of CNC containing samples was also confirmed by in vivo implantation on full-thickness wounds. The wound area faded away more rapidly in these samples. H&E and Masson's trichrome staining showed better regeneration and more developed tissues in wounds treated with PCL-CNC1% nanofibers.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
At CNCs concentrations beyond 4 wt.%, CNCs tend to agglomerate, adversely affecting elongation at break and reducing toughness.
“However, at concentrations beyond 4 wt.%, CNCs tend to agglomerate, adversely affecting elongation at break and reducing toughness.”
Electrospinning is an effective technique for fabricating nanofiber-based PCL/CNCs scaffolds, with CNCs well-aligned within the fibers and contributing to anisotropic mechanical enhancement.
“Electrospinning has emerged as an effective technique for fabricating nanofiber-based PCL/CNCs scaffolds [69]. In these systems, CNCs were well-aligned within the fibers, contributing to anisotropic mechanical enhancement.”
Electrospun mats containing CNCs from cotton waste fiber demonstrate up to 50% tensile strength improvement at 1 wt.% CNCs loading.
“electrospun mats containing CNCs from cotton waste fiber demonstrated up to 50% tensile strength improvement at 1 wt.% CNCs loading.”
An optimal CNCs loading of 2-3 wt.% is often recommended to balance strength and flexibility in PCL/CNCs composites.
“Therefore, an optimal loading of 2–3 wt.% is often recommended to balance strength and flexibility [69]”
CNCs enhance the crystallinity of PCL.
“For instance, CNCs have been shown to enhance the crystallinity of PCL [21,22,68,69].”
Cites
A New Method of Analyzing Thermogravimetric Data
Ozawa, T. (1965) · Bulletin of the Chemical Society of Japan · doi:10.1246/bcsj.38.1881 · Cited by 6,931 · see citing works
Vyazovkin, S., Burnham, A. K., Criado, J. M., Pérez-Maqueda, L. A., Popescu, C., & Sbirrazzuoli, N. (2011) · Thermochimica Acta · doi:10.1016/j.tca.2011.03.034 · Cited by 6,000 · see citing works
Cellulose nanocrystals: chemistry, self-assembly, and applications
Habibi, Y., Lucia, L. A., & Rojas, O. J. (2010) · Chemical Reviews · doi:10.1021/cr900339w · Cited by 5,980 · see citing works
The return of a forgotten polymer—Polycaprolactone in the 21st century
Woodruff, M. A., & Hutmacher, D. W. (2010) · Progress in Polymer Science · doi:10.1016/j.progpolymsci.2010.04.002 · Cited by 4,033 · see citing works
Friedman, H. L. (1964) · Journal of Polymer Science Part C Polymer Symposia · doi:10.1002/polc.5070060121 · Cited by 3,917 · see citing works
A quick, direct method for the determination of activation energy from thermogravimetric data
Flynn, J. H., & Wall, L. A. (1966) · Journal of Polymer Science Part B Polymer Letters · doi:10.1002/pol.1966.110040504 · Cited by 3,241 · see citing works
Bellini, M., Charalampidis, S., Herbert, P., Bonatsos, V., Crane, J., Muthusamy, A., Dor, F., & Papalois, V. E. (2022) · BioMed Research International · doi:10.1155/2738 · Cited by 2,431 · see citing works
Synthesis of polycaprolactone: A review
Labet, M., & Thielemans, W. (2009) · Chemical Society Reviews · doi:10.1039/b820162p · Cited by 1,673 · see citing works
Physical properties of textile fibres
Morton, W. E., & Hearle, J. W. S. (2008) · Woodhead Publishing Limited eBooks · doi:10.1533/9781845694425 · Cited by 1,533 · see citing works
Habibi, Y., Goffin, A.-L., Schiltz, N., Duquesne, E., Dubois, P., & Dufresne, A. (2008) · Journal of Materials Chemistry · doi:10.1039/b809212e · Cited by 672 · see citing works
Synthetic biodegradable functional polymers for tissue engineering: a brief review
Guo, B., & Ma, P. X. (2014) · Science China Chemistry · doi:10.1007/s11426-014-5086-y · Cited by 592 · see citing works
Cellulose Nanoparticles: Structure–Morphology–Rheology Relationships
Li, M., Wu, Q., Song, K., Lee, S., Qing, Y., & Wu, Y. (2015) · ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering · doi:10.1021/acssuschemeng.5b00144 · Cited by 486 · see citing works
Biodegradable and biocompatible polymers for tissue engineering application: A review
Asghari, F., Samiei, M., Adibkia, K., Akbarzadeh, A., & Davaran, S. (2017) · Artificial Cells, Nanomedicine, and Biotechnology · doi:10.3109/21691401.2016.1146731 · Cited by 482 · see citing works
Cellulose nanocrystals reinforced poly(oxyethylene)
Azizi Samir, M. A. S., Alloin, F., Sanchez, J.-Y., & Dufresne, A. (2004) · Polymer · doi:10.1016/j.polymer.2004.03.094 · Cited by 398 · see citing works
Handbook of Nanocellulose and Cellulose Nanocomposites
(2017) · Wiley eBooks · doi:10.1002/9783527689972 · Cited by 343 · see citing works
Zhou, C., Shi, Q., Guo, W., Terrell, L., Qureshi, A. T., Hayes, D. J., & Wu, Q. (2013) · ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces · doi:10.1021/am4005072 · Cited by 329 · see citing works
Nanocomposites of isotactic polypropylene reinforced with rod-like cellulose whiskers
Ljungberg, N., Cavaillé, J. Y., & Heux, L. (2006) · Polymer · doi:10.1016/j.polymer.2006.07.013 · Cited by 274 · see citing works
Reinforcing Poly(ε-caprolactone) Nanofibers with Cellulose Nanocrystals
Zoppe, J. O., Peresin, M. S., Habibi, Y., Venditti, R. A., & Rojas, O. J. (2009) · ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces · doi:10.1021/am9003705 · Cited by 248 · see citing works
Shi, Q., Zhou, C., Yue, Y., Guo, W., Wu, Y., & Wu, Q. (2012) · Carbohydrate Polymers · doi:10.1016/j.carbpol.2012.05.042 · Cited by 229 · see citing works
Chen, E.-C., & Wu, T. (2007) · Polymer Degradation and Stability · doi:10.1016/j.polymdegradstab.2007.02.019 · Cited by 178 · see citing works
Potential Applications of Nanocellulose-Containing Materials in the Biomedical Field
Halib, N., Perrone, F. M., Čemažar, M., Dapas, B., Farra, R., Abrami, M., Chiarappa, G., Forte, G., Zanconati, F., Pozzato, G., et al. (2017) · Materials · doi:10.3390/ma10080977 · Cited by 174 · see citing works
Zhang, C., Salick, M. R., Cordie, T. M., Ellingham, T., Dan, Y., & Turng, L. (2015) · Materials Science and Engineering C · doi:10.1016/j.msec.2015.01.024 · Cited by 169 · see citing works
A kinetic study of moisture sorption and desorption on lyocell fibers
Okubayashi, S., Griesser, U. J., & Bechtold, T. (2004) · Carbohydrate Polymers · doi:10.1016/j.carbpol.2004.07.004 · Cited by 159 · see citing works
Nadege, F., Belbekhouche, S., Bras, J., Siqueira, G. D. F., Marais, S., & Dufresne, A. (2012) · Journal of Membrane Science · doi:10.1016/j.memsci.2012.09.048 · Cited by 137 · see citing works
Drug release and biodegradability of electrospun cellulose nanocrystal reinforced polycaprolactone
Hivechi, A., Bahrami, S. H., & Siegel, R. A. (2018) · Materials Science and Engineering C · doi:10.1016/j.msec.2018.10.037 · Cited by 136 · see citing works
Self-citationPreparation of Nanocellulose: A Review
Islam, M. T., Alam, M. M., Patrucco, A., et al. (2014) · AATCC Journal of Research · doi:10.14504/ajr.1.5.3 · Cited by 134 · see citing works
Vukelić, J., Dobrila-Dintinjana, R., Dekanić, A., Marijić, B., Čubranić, A., & Braut, T. (2019) · BioMed Research International · doi:10.1155/2019/8142572 · Cited by 132 · see citing works
Transcrystallization of polypropylene at cellulose nanocrystal surfaces
Gray, D. G. (2007) · Cellulose · doi:10.1007/s10570-007-9176-2 · Cited by 119 · see citing works
Domingues, R. M. A., Chiera, S., Михайлович, Г. П., et al. (2016) · Advanced Healthcare Materials · doi:10.1002/adhm.201501048 · Cited by 117 · see citing works
Regenerated chitin fibers reinforced with bacterial cellulose nanocrystals as suture biomaterials
Wu, H., Williams, G. R., Wu, J., et al. (2017) · Carbohydrate Polymers · doi:10.1016/j.carbpol.2017.10.022 · Cited by 116 · see citing works
A numeric model for the kinetics of water vapor sorption on cellulosic reinforcement fibers
Kohler, R., Dück, R., Ausperger, B., et al. (2003) · Composite Interfaces · doi:10.1163/156855403765826900 · Cited by 115 · see citing works
Preparation and properties of PLGA nanofiber membranes reinforced with cellulose nanocrystals
Mo, Y., Guo, R., Liu, J., Lan, Y., Zhang, Y., Xue, W., & Zhang, Y. (2015) · Colloids and Surfaces B Biointerfaces · doi:10.1016/j.colsurfb.2015.05.029 · Cited by 114 · see citing works
Cytocompatibility and immunomodulatory properties of wood based nanofibrillated cellulose
Čolić, M. J., Mihajlović, D., Mathew, A. P., et al. (2014) · Cellulose · doi:10.1007/s10570-014-0524-8 · Cited by 107 · see citing works
Huang, A., Peng, X., Geng, L., Zhang, L., Huang, K., Chen, B., Gu, Z., & Kuang, T. (2018) · Polymer Testing · doi:10.1016/j.polymertesting.2018.08.027 · Cited by 106 · see citing works
Ten, E., Jiang, L., & Wolcott, M. P. (2012) · Carbohydrate Polymers · doi:10.1016/j.carbpol.2012.05.076 · Cited by 100 · see citing works
Lam, N. T., Chollakup, R., Smitthipong, W., et al. (2017) · Industrial Crops and Products · doi:10.1016/j.indcrop.2017.02.031 · Cited by 95 · see citing works
Guo, R., Lan, Y., Xue, W., Cheng, B., Zhang, Y., Wang, C., & Ramakrishna, S. (2017) · Journal of Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine · doi:10.1002/term.2272 · Cited by 94 · see citing works
Siqueira, G. D. F., Fraschini, C., Bras, J., Dufresne, A., Prud'homme, R. E., & Laborie, M. G. (2011) · European Polymer Journal · doi:10.1016/j.eurpolymj.2011.09.014 · Cited by 92 · see citing works
Cytocompatibility of Wood-Derived Cellulose Nanofibril Hydrogels with Different Surface Chemistry
Rashad, A., Mustafa, K., Heggset, E. B., & Syverud, K. (2017) · Biomacromolecules · doi:10.1021/acs.biomac.6b01911 · Cited by 78 · see citing works
Tissue Response and Biodistribution of Injectable Cellulose Nanocrystal Composite Hydrogels
France, K. J. D., Badv, M., Dorogin, J., et al. (2019) · ACS Biomaterials Science & Engineering · doi:10.1021/acsbiomaterials.9b00522 · Cited by 56 · see citing works
Hivechi, A., Bahrami, S. H., Arami, M., et al. (2015) · Carbohydrate Polymers · doi:10.1016/j.carbpol.2015.07.045 · Cited by 45 · see citing works
Self-citationHan, J., Zhu, Y., Hu, J., Luo, H., Yeung, L., Li, W., Meng, Q., Ye, G., Zhang, S., & Fan, Y. (2011) · Journal of Applied Polymer Science · doi:10.1002/app.34505 · Cited by 30 · see citing works
Crystallization properties of polycaprolactone composites filled with nanometer calcium carbonate
Liang, J., Zhou, L., Tang, C. Y., et al. (2012) · Journal of Applied Polymer Science · doi:10.1002/app.38359 · Cited by 28 · see citing works
Degradation and related changes in supermolecular structure of poly(caprolactone) in vivo conditions
Sajkiewicz, P., Heljak, M. K., Gradys, A., Choińska, E., Rumiński, S., Jaroszewicz, T., Bissenik, I., & Święszkowski, W. (2018) · Polymer Degradation and Stability · doi:10.1016/j.polymdegradstab.2018.09.023 · Cited by 24 · see citing works
Zhang, G., Xu, C., Wu, D., Xie, W., & Wang, Z. (2018) · Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research · doi:10.1021/acs.iecr.8b00514 · Cited by 21 · see citing works
Nucleation Role of Basalt Fibers during Crystallization of Poly(ε-caprolactone) Composites
Lv, Q., Ying, Z., Wu, D., Wang, Z., & Zhang, M. (2017) · Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research · doi:10.1021/acs.iecr.6b04510 · Cited by 17 · see citing works
Kumar, A., Negi, Y. S., Choudhary, V., et al. (2016) · International Journal of Polymer Analysis and Characterization · doi:10.1080/1023666x.2016.1263909 · Cited by 12 · see citing works
Jiang, L., & Xu, X. (2017) · doi:10.1002/9783527689972.ch16 · Cited by 4 · see citing works
Flagged first, then by citations
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Mondal, K., Bhagabati, P., Goud, V. V., Sakurai, S., & Katiyar, V. (2021) · International Journal of Biological Macromolecules · doi:10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2021.09.114 · Cited by 29 · see citing works
Renewable rice straw cellulose nanofibril reinforced poly (ε-caprolactone) composite films
Qiao, X., Wang, Z., & Sun, K. (2022) · Materials Chemistry and Physics · doi:10.1016/j.matchemphys.2022.126879 · Cited by 13 · see citing works
Ngwenya, M., Gumede, T. P., Pérez Camargo, R. A., & Motloung, B. (2025) · Materials · doi:10.3390/ma18225172 · Cited by 9 · see citing works
- Authors
- Hivechi, A., Bahrami, S. H., Siegel, R. A., Siehr, A., Sahoo, A., Milan, P. B., Joghataei, M. T., Amoupour, M., & Simorgh, S.
- Affiliations
- University of Minnesota (US)
- Amirkabir University of Technology (IR)
- Iran University of Medical Sciences (IR)
- Corresponding author
- Bahrami, S. Hajir
- Siegel, Ronald A.
- ORCID
- Venue
- Materials Science and Engineering C
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2021-02
- Volume
- 121
- Pages
- 111855
- ISSN
- 0928-4931 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W3120847996
- Cited by
- 38
- References
- 48
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2025: 5 · 2024: 9 · 2023: 7 · 2022: 10 · 2021: 5
- FWCI
- 2.02
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Licence
- Locations
- Materials Science and Engineering C (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- Iran Nanotechnology Initiative Council
- National Science Foundation
- Iran Nanotechnology Innovation Council
- Iran University of Medical Sciences
- National Foundation of Elites
- Iran National Science Foundation (98026496)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Materials Science › Biomaterials › Electrospun Nanofibers in Biomedical Applications
- Physical Sciences › Materials Science › Biomaterials › Advanced Cellulose Research Studies
- Physical Sciences › Engineering › Biomedical Engineering › Bone Tissue Engineering Materials
- Keywords
- cellulose nanocrystals, polycaprolactone, electrospun nanofibers, crystallization kinetics, crystallization activation energy, nanofiber mechanical properties, hydrophilicity, wound healing, tissue engineering scaffolds, wound regeneration, composite nanofibers
- MeSH terms
- Cellulose, Crystallization, Kinetics, Polyesters, Tissue Engineering, Nanoparticles, Tissue Scaffolds, Nanofibers
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
