Fabrication and characterization of injection molded poly (ε-caprolactone) and poly (ε-caprolactone)/hydroxyapatite scaffolds for tissue engineering

Zhixiang Cui, Brenton Nelson, Yiyan Peng, Ke Li, Srikanth Pilla, Wan Ju Li, Lih Sheng Turng*, Changyu Shen

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalJournal Article peer-review

51 Scopus citations

Abstract

In this study, poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL)/sodium chloride (NaCl), PCL/poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO)/NaCl and PCL/PEO/NaCl/hydroxyapatite (HA) composites were injection molded and characterized. The water soluble and sacrificial polymer, PEO, and NaCl particulates in the composites were leached by deionized water to produce porous and interconnected microstructures. The effect of leaching time on porosity, and residual contents of NaCl and NaCl/HA, as well as the effect of HA addition on mechanical properties was investigated. In addition, the biocompatibility was observed via seeding human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs) on PCL and PCL/HA scaffolds. The results showed that the leaching time depends on the spatial distribution of sacrificial PEO phase and NaCl particulates. The addition of HA has significantly improved the elastic (E′) and loss moduli (E″) of PCL/HA scaffolds. Human MSCs were observed to have attached and proliferated on both PCL and PCL/HA scaffolds. Taken together, the molded PCL and PCL/HA scaffolds could be good candidates as tissue engineering scaffolds. Additionally, injection molding would be a potential and high throughput technology to fabricate tissue scaffolds.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1674-1681
Number of pages8
JournalMaterials Science and Engineering C
Volume32
Issue number6
DOIs
StatePublished - 01 08 2012
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Biocompatibility
  • Injection molding
  • Particulate leaching
  • Porous and interconnected structures
  • Tissue engineering scaffolds

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