Electrospinning and Electrospraying in the Development of Smart Nanomaterials

Novel targeted drug delivery systems into tumor cells or specific diseased organs have reduced off-target and non-specific toxicity and promise to improve the poor therapeutic outcomes of conventional drug delivery systems. Exploration of targeted drug delivery systems has been reported in cancer, infectious, and various non-communicable diseases. Elucidation of microenvironments of diseased tissues and organs has provided targets for exploitation using internal and external stimuli to deliver payloads encapsulated or conjugated to nanomaterials to desired locations. Such stimuli trigger drug release from nanocarriers through various mechanisms that lead to conformational changes in polymers encapsulating nanocarriers, resulting in temporospatial drug delivery. Currently, stimuli-responsive delivery systems are undergoing preclinical and clinical trials, albeit with several challenges mainly related to techniques and polymer systems used in their formulation. Electrospinning and electrospraying are promising to produce scalable smart nanomaterials with large specific surface area, porosity, effective encapsulation, and easy surface modification and scalability. This chapter discusses smart nanomaterials designed via electrospinning and electrospraying for the delivery of therapeutic payload to treat various diseases. Emphasis is placed on the endogenous and exogenous stimuli, polymers used, and the current landscape of smart nanomaterial drug delivery.