Polyurethane/poly(lactic-co-glycolic) acid composite scaffolds fabricated by thermally induced phase separation.
In this study, we present a novel composite scaffold fabricated using a thermally induced phase separation (TIPS) process from poly(lactic-co-glycolic) (PLGA) and biomedical polyurethane (PU). This processing method has been tuned to allow intimate (molecular) mixing of these two very different polymers, giving rise to a unique morphology that can be manipulated by controlling the phase separation behaviour of an initially homogenous polymer solution. Pure PLGA scaffolds possessed a smooth, directional fibrous sheet-like structure with pore sizes of 0.1-200mum, a porous Young's modulus of 93.5kPa and were relatively brittle to touch. Pure PU scaffolds had an isotropic emulsion-like structure, a porous Young's modulus of 15.7kPa and were much more elastic than the PLGA scaffolds. The composite PLGA/PU scaffold exhibits advantageous morphological, mechanical and cell adhesion and growth supporting properties, when compared with scaffolds fabricated from PLGA or PU alone. This novel method provides a mechanism for the formation of tailored bioactive scaffolds from nominally incompatible polymers, representing a significant step forward in scaffold processing for tissue-engineering applications.
Rowlands
A S
AS
Tissue Engineering & Microfluidics Laboratory, Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology and the School of Engineering, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Qld. 4072, Australia.
Lim
S A
SA
Martin
D
D
Cooper-White
J J
JJ
D000818:Animals; D002152:Calorimetry, Differential Scanning; D019344:Lactic Acid / Q000737:chemistry*; D051379:Mice; D008854:Microscopy, Electron; D041681:NIH 3T3 Cells; D011100:Polyglycolic Acid / Q000737:chemistry*; D000077182:Polylactic Acid-Polyglycolic Acid Copolymer; D011108:Polymers / Q000737:chemistry*; D011140:Polyurethanes / Q000737:chemistry*
D011108:Polymers; D011140:Polyurethanes; D000077182:Polylactic Acid-Polyglycolic Acid Copolymer; D011100:Polyglycolic Acid; D019344:Lactic Acid