Composite Fiber Networks Based on Polycaprolactone and Bioactive Glass-Ceramics for Tissue Engineering Applications

Abstract

In this work, composite fibers connected in three-dimensional porous scaffolds were fabricated by electrospinning, starting from polycaprolactone and inorganic powders synthesized by the sol-gel method. The aim was to obtain materials dedicated to the field of bone regeneration, with controllable properties of bioresorbability and bioactivity. The employed powders were nanometric and of a glass-ceramic type, a fact that constitutes the premise of a potential attachment to living tissue in the physiological environment. The morphological characterization performed on the composite materials validated both the fibrous character and oxide powder distribution within the polymer matrix. Regarding the biological evaluation, the period of immersion in simulated body fluid led to the initiation of polymer degradation and a slight mineralization of the embedded particles, while the osteoblast cells cultured in the presence of these scaffolds revealed a spatial distribution at different depths and a primary networking tendency, based on the composites’ geometrical and dimensional features.

Ce/Sm/Sr-Incorporating Ceramic Scaffolds Obtained via Sol-Gel Route

“…Basically, the vibrational features were assigned to three main types of bonds: Si‒O, Ca‒O and Mg‒O [ 42 ], in correlation with the elemental ( Figure 5 ) and mineralogical ( Figure 7 ) details. Another specificity is related to the emergence of a supplementary large band in the powders spectra, namely the one centered at approximately 1420 cm −1 , which was attributed to the presence of residual nitrates [ 43 ].…”

Development of Bioactive Glass-Collagen-Hyaluronic Acid-Polycaprolactone Scaffolds for Tissue Engineering Applications

“…Therefore, biodegradable polymers have been used in conjunction with bioactive glass as composite materials. Subsequently, polycaprolactone (which is a biocompatible and biodegradable polyester with high availability and suitability for manufacture) has been applied in bone scaffolds as reinforcement because of its physical, biological, and mechanical properties (Cannillo et al, 2010;Jinga et al, 2020).…”

“…Here, polycaprolactone (PCL) takes the mechanical support role in the microstructure, and the collagen provides cell recognition signals which are crucial for cell behavior and development (Dong and Lv, 2016). The assessment of PCL/BG coatings on metallic substrates and the behavior under corrosive environments as well their mineralization effects have been subsequently reported (Yazdimamaghani et al, 2015;Jinga et al, 2020), although metallic implants are currently used in orthopedics, oral, and maxillofacial surgery, and they present serious disadvantages because of the release of metallic ions into the body. Therefore, to minimize this anodic dissolution, the assessment surface modification of these metallic substrates have been studied by techniques such as dip coating, deposition by spraying, and electrospinning, among others (Panahi et al, 2020).…”

Poly(ε-Caprolactone)/Poly(Glycerol Sebacate) Composite Nanofibers Incorporating Hydroxyapatite Nanoparticles and Simvastatin for Bone Tissue Regeneration and Drug Delivery Applications

“…The addition of PCL increased the viscosity of the polymer blend, making PGS suitable for electrospinning [ 16 , 18 ]. Taken together, this study shows that the blending of PGS and PCL was a useful strategy to complement their individual properties, such as mechanical properties and biological behavior, to increase the scaffold performance for tissue regeneration applications [ 19 ]. Various studies have reported on the fabrication of different inorganic nanoparticles such as bioactive glass [ 20 , 21 ], tricalcium phosphate [ 22 ] and hydroxyapatite [ 23 ] and their incorporation in natural or synthetic polymers such as the collagen, chitosan, polycaprolactone, poly lactic acid and polyhydroxyalkanoates.…”