Production of Nanofiber Materials Based on Macromolecular Hyaluronic Acid by Electrospinning

Hyaluronic acid-based nanofiber scaffolds imitating the natural extracellular matrix, which is promising for use in tissue engineering, have been prepared by electrospinning. Hyaluronic acid is part of many organs and tissues; it is a biologically active component capable of being involved in cell proliferation and migration. The high viscosity of solutions of the macromolecular biopolymer significantly complicates the preparation of nanofiber scaffolds based on it. Rheological studies have made it possible to determine the solvent composition that contributes to a decrease in the viscosity of the spinning solution. The highest Newtonian viscosity of a 1% hyaluronic acid solution in water is 25 Pa s; in the case of using a mixture of ammonia hydrate (10%) and dimethylformamide at a ratio of 2 : 1, this parameter decreases to 1.147 Pa s. The use of a special spinning cell with a small-diameter nozzle and a high pressure (up to 10 atm) has provided the formation of hyaluronic acid-based nanofibers with a diameter of 100–300 nm.