Cellulose-based electrospun nanofibers: a review

Cellulosic materials have gained a lot of attention in the last decades because of their abundancy, renewability and excellent physicochemical properties. Meanwhile, research on nanofibers has also been increasing with the aim of producing or modifying materials that can have a wide range of applications, such as tissue engineering, drug delivery, protective clothing and wound dressing. In order to produce these fibers, electrospinning is shown to be a promising and extensively used technique. Electrospun cellulosic fibers maintain the optimal characteristics of cellulose while improving its surface area to volume ratio and mechanical properties, in addition to the possibility of surface tailoring of bulk materials. However, there are several limitations related to the utilization of cellulose and most of its derivatives with the electrospinning technique. Poor solubility in most common solvents and inability to melt are major drawbacks. Thus, this review describes mostly recent research in which cellulose and its derivatives have been the feedstock for fabrication of nanofibers by electrospinning, exploring processing details and potential applications.