Background:Poly (hydroxy butyrate) (PHB) is a biodegradable and biocompatible polymer with good mechanical properties. This polymer could be a promising material for scaffolds if some features improve.Materials and Methods:In the present work, new PHB/chitosan blend scaffolds were prepared as a three-dimensional substrate in cartilage tissue engineering. Chitosan in different weight percent was added to PHB and solved in trifluoroacetic acid. Statistical Taguchi method was employed in the design of experiments.Results:The Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy test revealed that the crystallization of PHB in these blends is suppressed with increasing the amount of chitosan. Scanning electron microscopy images showed a thin and rough top layer with a nodular structure, supported with a porous sub-layer in the surface of the scaffolds. In vitro degradation rate of the scaffolds was higher than pure PHB scaffolds. Maximum degradation rate has been seen for the scaffold with 90% wt. NaCl and 40% wt. chitosan.Conclusions:The obtained results suggest that these newly developed PHB/chitosan blend scaffolds may serve as a three-dimensional substrate in cartilage tissue engineering.
In this paper, preparation and characterization of a nanofibrous scaffold comprising both chitosan (CS) and gum tragacanth (GT) are reported for the first time. CS and GT were separately blended with poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) and simultaneously electrospun by a double-nozzle electrospinning apparatus, and the resulting nanofibrous mats were compared with CS/PVA and GT/PVA electrospun ones. Scanning electron microscopy images showed uniform bead-free nanofibers with some merging areas and an average fiber diameter of ∼273 nm for CS-PVA/GT-PVA. The ultimate tensile strength and strain at break of the hybrid nanofibers were ∼20 MPa and ∼9%, respectively, which were significantly higher than those of the CS/PVA and GT/PVA nanofibers. The CS-PVA/GT-PVA nanofibrous mats also showed a water droplet contact angle value (∼31°) between those of the CS/PVA and GT/PVA nanofibrous mats. MTT (3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide) assay using L929 fibroblast cells indicated more biocompatibility of the CS-PVA/GT-PVA hybrid nanofibers compared with the CS/PVA and GT/PVA ones. The obtained results showed that the CS-PVA/GT-PVA hybrid nanofibrous scaffold might be useful for tissue engineering applications.
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