Optimizations of Electrospun Nylon Fibers Toward Potential Application in Artificial Heart Valve

Abstract

Improving the mechanical properties of novel prosthetic heart valves is key to facilitating the application of biological heart valves. Screening of polymer materials that can be used for prosthetic heart valves is the basis for the preparation of prosthetic heart valves. This study focused on the screening and optimization of different types of nylon electrospun fibers. First, nylon-6 (PA 6), nylon-66 (PA 66), nylon-612 (PA 612), nylon-11 (PA 11), and nylon-12 (PA 12) were selected as spinning precursors, and only PA 6, PA 66, and PA 12 were completely dissolved to obtain a spinning solution with a concentration of 16 wt%. Among them, PA 6, PA 12, and PA 66 can be used for the preparation of electrospun fiber membranes. Then, the PA 6, PA 66, and PA 12 fibrous membranes were obtained under electrospun conditions of 19 kV, a distance of 15–20 cm, and humidity of 20%, and then the three types of nylon were investigated and compared with each other for the mechanical properties of the electrospun fibers of different types of nylon, such as tensile strength, Young's modulus, and toughness. Finally, we chose PA 6 as the spinneret and designed PA 6 spinning solutions with different concentration gradients, and subsequently prepared PA 6 electrospun fibers at an optimal concentration of 19 wt% and a voltage of 19 kV, with excellent overall performance: the fiber diameter was concentrated at 0.19 ± 0.02 μm. The tensile strength, Young's modulus, and toughness were 10.25 ± 0.518 MPa, 101.12 ± 5.85 MPa, and 2.51 ± 0.145 MJ m⁻³, respectively. PA 6 is a promising candidate for new prosthetic valves.