Femtosecond laser machining of electrospun membranes

We demonstrate that a femtosecond laser can be used to machine arbitrary patterns and pattern arrays into free-standing electrospun polycaprolactone (PCL) membranes. We also examine the influence of various laser irradiation settings on the final microstructure of electrospun membranes. A beam fluence of 0.6 J/cm2 is used to ablate holes in 100 μm thick PCL membranes. The machined holes have an average diameter of 436 μm and a center-to-center spacing of 1000 μm. Based on these results, the femtosecond ablation of electrospun membranes shows great potential for fabricating a variety of functional tissue scaffolds. This technique will advance scaffold design by providing the ability to rapidly tailor surface morphology, while minimizing and controlling the deformation of the electrospun fibers.