Nanotechnology refers to the fabrication, characterization, and application of substances in nanometer scale dimensions for various ends. The influence of nanotechnology on the healthcare industry is substantial, particularly in the areas of disease diagnosis and treatment. Recent investigations in nanotechnology for drug delivery and tissue engineering have delivered high-impact contributions in translational research, with associated pharmaceutical products and applications. Over the past decade, the synthesis of nanofibers or nanoparticles via electrostatic spinning or spraying, respectively, has emerged as an important nanostructuring methodology. This is due to both the versatility of the electrospinning/electrospraying process and the ensuing control of nanofiber/nanoparticle surface parameters. Electrosprayed nanoparticles and electrospun nanofibers are both employed as natural or synthetic carriers for the delivery of entrapped drugs, growth factors, health supplements, vitamins, and so on. The role of nanofiber/nanoparticle carriers is substantiated by the programmed, tailored, or targeted release of their contents in the guise of tissue engineering scaffolds or medical devices for drug delivery. This review focuses on the nanoformulation of natural materials via the electrospraying or electrospinning of nanoparticles or nanofibers for tissue engineering or drug delivery/pharmaceutical purposes. Here, we classify the natural materials with respect to their animal/plant origin and macrocyclic, small molecule or herbal active constituents, and further categorize the materials according to their proteinaceous or saccharide nature.

The re-exploration of the nanostructure production technique known as electrospinning was carried out in the past decade due to its simplicity and uniqueness of producing nanostructures. As nanotechnology is one of the most promising and growing technologies today, a large amount of work is being carried out in an extensive area and shows an extremely huge potential for miraculous works in the fields of medicine and biotechnology. These nanostructures were found to be of great significance because of their inherent properties such as large surface area to volume ratio and the engineered properties such as porosity, stability and permeability. The functionality and applicability of these nanostructures were further improved by incorporating secondary phases either during electrospinning or in the post-processing resulting in the composite nanostructures. These secondary phases may include metal oxides, carbon nanotubes, precious metals, gold nanoparticles and hydroxyapatite. Nanofibrous materials that mimic the native extracellular matrix (ECM) and promote the adhesion of various cells are being developed as tissue-engineered scaffolds for the skin, bone, vasculature, heart, cornea, nervous system and other tissues. The article discusses in detail the applicability of these composite fibers in energy, sensors, filters, biotechnology and details the technological issues, research challenges and future trends.