Electrospun hybrid nanofibers, based on functional agents immobilized in polymeric matrix, possess a unique combination of collective properties. These are beneficial for a wide range of applications, which include theranostics, filtration, catalysis, and tissue engineering, among others. The combination of functional agents in a nanofiber matrix offer accessibility to multifunctional nanocompartments with significantly improved mechanical, electrical, and chemical properties, along with better biocompatibility and biodegradability. This review summarizes recent work performed for the fabrication, characterization, and optimization of different hybrid nanofibers containing varieties of functional agents, such as laser ablated inorganic nanoparticles (NPs), which include, for instance, gold nanoparticles (Au NPs) and titanium nitride nanoparticles (TiNPs), perovskites, drugs, growth factors, and smart, inorganic polymers. Biocompatible and biodegradable polymers such as chitosan, cellulose, and polycaprolactone are very promising macromolecules as a nanofiber matrix for immobilizing such functional agents. The assimilation of such polymeric matrices with functional agents that possess wide varieties of characteristics require a modified approach towards electrospinning techniques such as coelectrospinning and template spinning. Additional focus within this review is devoted to the state of the art for the implementations of these approaches as viable options for the achievement of multifunctional hybrid nanofibers. Finally, recent advances and challenges, in particular, mass fabrication and prospects of hybrid nanofibers for tissue engineering and biomedical applications have been summarized.

Driven by surface cleanness and unique physical, optical and chemical properties, bare (ligand-free) laser-synthesized nanoparticles (NPs) are now in the focus of interest as promising materials for the development of advanced biomedical platforms related to biosensing, bioimaging and therapeutic drug delivery. We recently achieved significant progress in the synthesis of bare gold (Au) and silicon (Si) NPs and their testing in biomedical tasks, including cancer imaging and therapy, biofuel cells, etc. We also showed that these nanomaterials can be excellent candidates for tissue engineering applications. This review is aimed at the description of our recent progress in laser synthesis of bare Si and Au NPs and their testing as functional modules (additives) in innovative scaffold platforms intended for tissue engineering tasks.

Smart electrospun hybrid nanofibers represent a cutting‐edge class of functional nanostructured materials with unique collective properties. This review aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the applications of smart electrospun hybrid nanofibers in the fields of energy, catalysis, and biomedicine. Electrospinning is a powerful tool to fabricate different types of nanofibers’ morphologies with precise control over structure and compositions. Through the incorporation of various functional components, such as nanoparticles, nanomoieties, and biomolecules, into the (co)polymer matrix, nanofibers can be tailored into smart hybrid materials exhibiting responsiveness to external stimuli such as temperature, pH, or light among others. Herein recent advancements in fabrication strategies for electrospun smart hybrid nanofibers are discussed, focusing on different electrospinning tools aimed at tailoring and developing smart hybrid nanofibers. These strategies include surface functionalization, doping, and templating, which enable fine‐tuning of mechanical strength, conductivity, and biocompatibility. The review explores the challenges and recent progress in the development of smart hybrid nanofibers. Issues such as scalability, reproducibility, biocompatibility, and environmental sustainability are identified as key for improvement. Furthermore, the applications of smart nanofibers in biomedicine, environment, energy storage, and smart textiles underscore their potential to address the challenges in development of nanostructured materials for emerging technologies.

Periodic hybrid nanostructured materials based on aligned inorganic nanoparticles within self‐assembled copolymer matrixes aimed to harness the collective properties of generated functional nanomaterials. The nanoparticles are desirable for their useful magnetic, optical, catalytic, and electronic properties owed to the quantum confinement effect. For instance, gold, palladium and platinum as nanoparticles, have shown significant change in the physiochemical properties in comparison to their bulk materials. If the nanoparticles are aligned into well‐defined macroscopic periodic nanostructures in diverse of morphologies, the unique collective properties are significantly enhanced. These unique properties can be transformed to improve the performance of storage media, multi‐contact tracks solar panels and optoelectronic devices. Within this review, the nanofabrication tools will be presented as an alternative route to conventional top‐down methods for the fabrication of periodic nanostructured hybrid materials. A simple approach is reviewed to fabricate periodic nanostructured hybrid systems based on the directed assembly of inorganic nanoparticles into well‐defined periodic three‐dimensional nanostructures provided by the self‐assembling ability of block copolymers. The fabrications of varieties morphologies and the formation mechanism at different dimensions will be discussed as well as the characterization techniques. Finally, several applications of the proposed hybrid nanostructures are highlighted for the next generation of miniaturized devices.

We report a methodology for the fabrication of neutralized chitosan-based nanofiber matrices decorated with bare Au nanoparticles, which demonstrate stable characteristics even after prolonged contact with a biological environment. The methodology consists of electrospinning of a mixture of bare (ligand-free) laser-synthesized Au nanoparticles (AuNPs) and solutions of chitosan/polyethylene oxide (ratio 1/3) containing chitosan of a relatively high molecular weight (200 kDa) and concentration of 3% (w/v). Our studies reveal a continuous morphology of hybrid nanofibers with the mean fiber diameter of 189 nm ± 86 nm, which demonstrate a high thermal stability. Finally, we describe a protocol for the neutralization of nanofibers, which enabled us to achieve their structural stability in phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) for more than six months, as confirmed by microscopy and FTIR measurements. The formed hybrid nanofibers exhibit unique physicochemical properties essential for the development of future tissue engineering platforms.

Herein, we report the fabrication and characterization of novel polycaprolactone (PCL)-based nanofibers functionalized with bare (ligand-free) titanium nitride (TiN) nanoparticles (NPs) for tissue engineering applications. Nanofibers were prepared by a newly developed protocol based on the electrospinning of PCL solutions together with TiN NPs synthesized by femtosecond laser ablation in acetone. The generated hybrid nanofibers were characterised using spectroscopy, microscopy, and thermal analysis techniques. As shown by scanning electron microscopy measurements, the fabricated electrospun nanofibers had uniform morphology, while their diameter varied between 0.403 ± 0.230 µm and 1.1 ± 0.15 µm by optimising electrospinning solutions and parameters. Thermal analysis measurements demonstrated that the inclusion of TiN NPs in nanofibers led to slight variation in mass degradation initiation and phase change behaviour (T_m). In vitro viability tests using the incubation of 3T3 fibroblast cells in a nanofiber-based matrix did not reveal any adverse effects, confirming the biocompatibility of hybrid nanofiber structures. The generated hybrid nanofibers functionalized with plasmonic TiN NPs are promising for the development of smart scaffold for tissue engineering platforms and open up new avenues for theranostic applications.