Morphology and degradation properties of PCL/HYAFF11 (R) composite scaffolds with multi-scale degradation rate

作者：Guarino V^*; Lewandowska M; Bil M; Polak B; Ambrosio L

来源：Composites Science and Technology, 2010, 70(13): 1826-1837.

DOI：10.1016/j.compscitech.2010.06.015

• Polymer-matrix composites (PMCs)
• Porosity/voids
• Thermal properties
• Filament winding

The analysis of scaffold degradation is a promising strategy for understanding the dynamic changes in texture and pore morphology which accompany polymer resorption, and for collecting same fundamental indicators regarding the potential fate of the scaffold in the biological environment. In this study, we investigate the morphology and degradation properties of three composite scaffolds based on poly(epsilon-caprolactone) (PCL) embedded with benzyl ester of hyaluronic acid (HYAFF11 (R)) phases, and, in turn, different reinforcement systems - i e., calcium phosphate particles or continuous poly(lactic acid) (PLA) fibres Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and mu-tomography supported by digital image analysis enabled a not invasive investigation of the scaffold morphology, providing a quantitative assessment of porosity (which ranged from 63.1 to 82.8), pore sizes (which varied from 170.5 to 230.4 mu m) and pore interconnectivity. Thermal analyses (DSC and TGA) and Raman spectroscopy demonstrated the multi-scale degradation of the composite with highly tailoring degradation kinetics depending on the component material phases and scaffold architecture changes, due to their conditioning in simulated in vivo environment (i e, SBF solution) These results demonstrate that the judicious mixing of materials with faster (i e, HYAFF11) and slower (i e, PLA and PCL) degradation kinetics, different size and shape (le, domains, particles or long fibres), certainly concurs to desig

• 出版日期2010-11-15