Impact of sterilization by electron beam, gamma radiation and X-rays on electrospun poly-(ε-caprolactone) fiber mats

Abstract

Biodegradable polymers such as polycaprolactone (PCL) are increasingly used for electrospinning substrates for tissue engineering. These materials offer great advantages such as biocompatibility and good mechanical properties. However, in order to be approved for human implantation they have to be sterilized. The impact of commonly used irradiation sterilization methods on electrospun PCL fiber mats was investigated systematically. Electron beam (β-irradiation), gamma and X-ray irradiation with two different doses (25 and 33 kGy) were investigated. To determine the impact on the fiber mats, mechanical, chemical, thermal properties and crystallinity were investigated. Irradiation resulted in a significant decrease in molecular weight. At the same time, crystallinity of fiber mats increased significantly. However, the mechanical properties did not change significantly upon irradiation, mostly likely because effects of a lower molecular weight were balanced with the higher degree of crystallinity. The irradiation effects were dose dependent, a higher irradiation dose led to stronger changes. Gamma irradiation seemed to be the least suited method, while electron beams (β irradiation) had a lower impact. Therefore, β irradiation is recommended as sterilization method for electrospun PCL fiber mats.

Blending chitosan‐g‐poly(caprolactone) with poly(caprolactone) by electrospinning to produce functional fiber mats for tissue engineering applications

“…DSC is a fast and straightforward method to determine thermal properties and crystallinity, which are critical for later application and might strongly influence the materials' mechanical properties or degradation behavior. A double heating cycle was applied for the samples as described previously to determine samples actual crystallinity (first heat cycle) and its ability to crystallize (second heat cycle) . Unless otherwise stated, all data depicted here are from the first heat cycle and hence indicate samples actual crystallinity.…”

The Effects of Gamma Irradiation on Molecular Weight, Morphology and Physical Properties of PHBV/ Cloisite 30B Bionanocomposites

“…However, the incorporation of cellulosic fillers in PLA fibers, in particular MCC, was found to hinder the radiolytic degradation process of the irradiated samples. The effects of three different sterilization techniques, Electron beam (β-irradiation), gamma and X-ray irradiation with two different doses (25 and 33 kGy) on properties of poly-(εcaprolactone) fiber mats were reported by Cassan et al [15]. It was found that properties of irradiated samples were affected by all three sterilization techniques.…”

Possibilities and limitations of electrospun chitosan‐coated polycaprolactone grafts for rotator cuff tear repair

“…Before surgery, both Biomerix 3D Scaffold and CS‐g‐PCL‐coated PCL were cut into pieces of 3 × 5 mm with a scalpel, shrink‐wrapped in sterilization pouches (SteriClin, Vereinigte Papierwarenfabriken, Feuchtwangen, Germany) and sterilized using a Rhodotron TT100 e‐beam accelerator (25 kGy; Mediscan, Kremsmünster, Austria) as per recommendation of the manufacturer. The used sterilization does not have any influence on material properties (de Cassan, Hoheisel, Glasmacher, & Menzel, ).…”