Electro-Fluid Dynamic Technologies for Bio-Applications

At present, a large variety of processes and tools are being deeply investigated to discover new solutions for the design of instructive platforms with controlled chemical, physical, and biological properties for different applications in the biomedical (e.g., tissue engineering and regenerative medicine, cancer therapy, drug delivery, nanomedicine for targeting diagnostic and theranostic use) and bio-environmental (e.g., filtering, active filtration, chemicals adsorption, pollutants removal, antimicrobial filters, smart packaging materials) fields. In this context, electro-fluid dynamics (EFDs) are accredited as highly versatile and cost-effective processes to design green materials and/or biomaterials by the application of high-voltage electric fields, giving the opportunity to minimize the effect of hazardous solvents and incorporate bio-active polymers (e.g., proteins, polysaccharides), molecules (e.g., drugs, growth factors) or inorganic (nano)particles (e.g., hydroxyapatite, bioactive glasses, iron oxide, or other metallic particles) by less-invasive chemical or physical approaches (e.g., blending, grafting, self-assembly). Moreover, the ability of electrostatic forces to interact with polymers in solutions under controlled process conditions can enable the production of fibers and/or particles at micro and/or nanometric scale that are suitable not only for laboratory research activities but also for commercial applications at a larger scale. Indeed, EFDs can be extensively customizable in terms of experimental setups at the level of spinnerets (i.e., coaxial, needleless, multiple needle) and collectors (i.e., collector masking, rotating elements, temperature control) for the generation of a large variety of 2D/3D platforms with tunable morphological/chemical/physical patterns. We would like to invite you to contribute to this Special Issue focused on Electro-Fluid Dynamic Technologies for Bio-Applications. Research topics of interest include, but are not limited to, recent advances related to technology and materials science as well as the description of novel ideas/proof-of-concept studies addressing the development of new solutions for healthcare and environmental applications. Both original articles and reviews are welcome.