Scientists are uncovering a revolutionary way to heal the human body by tapping into its innate electrical language. A comprehensive review, published in Science Bulletin , details how piezoelectric electrospun fibers are poised to transform tissue regeneration by acting as “smart” scaffolds that generate crucial electrical signals.
Our bodies are intricate bio-electrical systems. From cell communication to tissue regeneration, subtle electrical cues play a vital role in directing biological processes. While traditional tissue engineering scaffolds provide structural support, they often fail to replicate the dynamic electrical microenvironment present in living tissues. Against this backdrop, piezoelectric electrospun fibers demonstrate tremendous potential in tissue engineering and biomedical applications due to their high flexibility, biomimetic extracellular matrix structure, tunable morphology, and ability to convert mechanical stimuli into electrical signals. However, optimizing the piezoelectric properties of electrospun fibers to enhance tissue repair remains a challenge.
Based on this, Li Zhou’s team summarized various types of piezoelectric electrospun fibers, introduced methods for controlling the spinning process, and outlined traditional strategies for enhancing piezoelectric properties (such as annealing and polarization). The focus is on self-enhancement strategies for current electrospun fiber microstructures (aligned, interlocked, core-shell, hollow, multilayer, and 3D structures). It innovatively summarizes existing methods for enhancing piezoelectric performance in filler-piezoelectric fiber composite systems, including the coupling of the piezoelectric effect, crystallinity improvement, fiber stress concentration, spatial confinement effects, and interfacial anchoring enhancement strategies. Additionally, various methods for generating electrical signals on piezoelectric fibers are introduced, demonstrating their applications across multiple biomedical fields, including drug delivery, antimicrobial and wound healing, neural tissue engineering, cardiovascular tissue engineering, bone tissue engineering, cartilage tissue engineering, and other tissue engineering applications.
Finally, challenges and future directions for piezoelectric electrospun fibers are explored in depth from three perspectives: optimizing piezoelectric performance, cell-tissue interaction mechanisms, and clinical translation.
“Piezoelectric electrospun fibers hold the potential to revolutionize existing therapies and demonstrate significant promise in key areas of tissue engineering,” Professor Li Zhou notes. “With deepening interdisciplinary collaboration, piezoelectric electrospun fibers are poised to redefine the design paradigm for next-generation tissue engineering scaffolds, ushering in a new era of regenerative medicine.”
Science Bulletin