Electrospun 3D Nanofiber Scaffolds with Adhesion-Enhanced Interfaces for Cell Culture

Abstract

Creating three-dimensional (3D) fibrous scaffolds has long been a challenging task due to difficulties in controlling fiber assembly and maintaining structural stability. Polystyrene (PS), a synthetic polymer with self-assembling properties, enables the formation of porous 3D architectures via electrostatic fiber repulsion without the need for auxiliary templates. However, despite its suitability for constructing self-standing fibrous structures, the inherent hydrophobicity and bioinert nature of PS limit its applicability in cell-interactive platforms. To overcome these limitations, this study proposes a gravity-defying electrospinning strategy combined with a surface functionalization approach to fabricate bioactive 3D scaffolds. Tannic acid (TA) is employed as a physical cross-linker, and silk sericin (SS), a hydrophilic protein, is applied as a coating layer. The TA-mediated SS coating enhances surface wettability and introduces abundant functional groups, thereby improving cell–scaffold interactions. The engineered PS3D/TA/SS scaffolds exhibit a mesoporous structure with high specific surface area, interconnected porosity, and a fibrillar morphology that closely mimics the extracellular matrix (ECM). Overall, the synergistic integration of TA and SS onto a PS scaffold provides a simple and robust strategy to transform hydrophobic synthetic substrates into bioactive platforms suitable for regenerative medicine.