科研之友
微信
新浪微博
Facebook
分享链接
摘要
Alginate scaffold has potential use in the controlled release of drugs and as a three dimensional structure for the formation of tissue matrix. This article describes the changes in the alginate scaffold when the moisture was removed from the scaffold under vacuum. Here, some scaffolds have self-aligned gas bubbles with average diameter of 500 mu m, introduced through fluidic arrangement, prior to the crosslinking of the aqueous alginate film. The crosslinked gel film was dried in a vacuum oven at a constant temperature. The image of the alginate film prior to crosslinking was acquired under digital microscope, and was compared with the images of the dried scaffolds from the scanning electron microscope. The voids retained their identity at the time of drying, while the diameter was reduced to half of the initial value. The thickness of the scaffold was reduced ten folds. The presence of voids enhanced the drying rate when the drying was conducted at higher temperature. The drying primarily occurred in the falling rate period. The constant rate period was approached at lower moisture content for thin scaffolds without voids indicating the presence of surface moisture for substantial period. This feature was not observed for the scaffolds with voids. For these scaffolds, the shrinkage was insignificant except for the initial phase of drying. Based on this information, the conclusions were drawn on how the de-saturation of the various parts of the scaffold was phased.
- 出版日期2013-11
