Fabrication of polylactic acid/polyethylene glycol (PLA/PEG) porous scaffold by supercriticalCO₂foaming and particle leaching

Abstract

PLA/PEG/NaCl blends were melt‐blended followed by gas foaming and particle leaching process to fabricate porous scaffold with high porosity and interconnectivity. A home‐made triple‐screw compounding extruder was used to intensify the mixability and dispersion of NaCl and PEG in the PLA matrix. Supercritical carbon dioxide was used as physical blowing agent for the microcellular foaming process. Sodium chloride (NaCl) was used as the porogen to further improve the porosity of PLA scaffold. This study investigated the effects of PEG and NaCl on the structure and properties of the PLA‐based blend, as well as the porosity, pore size, interconnectivity, and hydrophilicity of porous scaffolds. It was found that the incorporation of PEG and NaCl significantly improved the crystallization rate and reduced viscoelasticity of PLA. Moreover, scaffolds obtained from PLA/PEG/NaCl blends had an interconnected bimodal porous structure with the open‐pore content about 86% and the highest porosity of 80%. And the presence of PEG in PLA/NaCl composite improved the extraction ability of NaCl particles during leaching process, which resulted in a well‐interconnected structure. The biocompatibility of the porous scaffolds fabricated was verified by culturing fibroblast cells for 10 days. POLYM. ENG. SCI., 55:1339–1348, 2015. © 2015 Society of Plastics Engineers

Three dimensional electrospun PCL/PLA blend nanofibrous scaffolds with significantly improved stem cells osteogenic differentiation and cranial bone formation

“…Owing to biocompatibility, biodegradability, and relatively high mechanical properties, polylactic acid (PLA, an FDA approved biopolymer) has been widely adopted for biomedical applications [23]. Although both PCL and PLA are linear aliphatic polyesters, the difference on molecular compositions makes PCL a more flexible, hydrophobic, and crystalline polymer that is slower to degrade than PLA; on the other hand, PLA has higher stiffness/modulus and strength than PCL [24].…”

Composite porous scaffold of PEG/PLA support improved bone matrix deposition in vitro compared to PLA‐only scaffolds

“…The scaffold material plays a vital role in the development of engineered bone, and it should possess a highly porous structure that promotes cell attachment, proliferation and bone tissue formation and mineralization. Numerous methods have been developed to introduce porosity into scaffold materials, including solvent casting-particulate leaching, 5 supercritical CO 2 gas foaming and particulate leaching, 6 emulsion freezing/freeze-drying, 7 and emulsion templating. The advantage of synthetic polymer scaffolds is their customizable chemical, physical and mechanical properties.…”

Preparation and Characterization of Poly(L-lactic acid) Films Plasticized with Glycerol and Maleic Anhydride

“…Some studies have reported the blending of PLLA with biopolymers, which have a plasticizing effect for biomedical applications. Chen et al (2015) report the preparation of a porous scaffold from blend of PLLA and poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) by supercritical CO2 foaming and particle leaching. The addition of PEG to the PLLA matrix has a plasticizing effect on the PLLA, indicated by the decrease in Tg in it.…”