Fabrication of super-hydrophilic and highly open-porous poly (lactic acid) scaffolds using supercritical carbon dioxide foaming

Qian Ren; Xiuyu Zhu; Wanwan Li; Minghui Wu; Shijie Cui; Yihan Ling; Xuehua Ma; Guilong Wang; Long Wang; Wenge Zheng

doi:10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2022.03.107

Fabrication of super-hydrophilic and highly open-porous poly (lactic acid) scaffolds using supercritical carbon dioxide foaming

Int J Biol Macromol. 2022 Apr 30:205:740-748. doi: 10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2022.03.107. Epub 2022 Mar 21.

Authors

Qian Ren¹, Xiuyu Zhu², Wanwan Li², Minghui Wu³, Shijie Cui², Yihan Ling², Xuehua Ma⁴, Guilong Wang⁵, Long Wang⁶, Wenge Zheng¹

Affiliations

¹ Ningbo Key Lab of Polymer Materials, Ningbo Institute of Material Technology and Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Ningbo 315201, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China.
² Ningbo Key Lab of Polymer Materials, Ningbo Institute of Material Technology and Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Ningbo 315201, China; School of Materials Science and Chemical Engineering, Ningbo University, Ningbo, Zhejiang Province 315211, China.
³ Ningbo Key Lab of Polymer Materials, Ningbo Institute of Material Technology and Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Ningbo 315201, China; Advanced Materials and Composites Department, University of Nottingham Ningbo China, 199 Taikang East Road, Ningbo 315000, China.
⁴ Ningbo Key Lab of Polymer Materials, Ningbo Institute of Material Technology and Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Ningbo 315201, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China; Cixi Institute of Biomedical Engineering, International Cooperation Base of Biomedical Materials Technology and Application, Ningbo Institute of Materials Technology and Engineering, CAS, Key Laboratory of Magnetic Materials and Devices and Zhejiang Engineering Research Center for Biomedical Materials, Chinese Academy of Science (CAS), Ningbo 315201, China. Electronic address: maxh@nimte.ac.cn.
⁵ Key Laboratory for Liquid-Solid Structural Evolution and Processing of Materials (Ministry of Education), Shandong University, Jinan, Shandong 250061, China. Electronic address: guilong@sdu.edu.cn.
⁶ Ningbo Key Lab of Polymer Materials, Ningbo Institute of Material Technology and Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Ningbo 315201, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China. Electronic address: wanglong@nimte.ac.cn.

PMID: 35331790
DOI: 10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2022.03.107

Abstract

Porous poly (lactic acid) (PLA)-based scaffolds have been widely used as a promising product in tissue engineering. However, it is still a challenge to prepare the PLA-based scaffolds with high expansion ratio, good hydrophilicity, and excellent cytocompatibility by a green and cost-effective fabrication approach. Herein, we prepared porous PLA-based scaffolds using carbon dioxide (CO₂) as the physical foaming agent. To improve the hydrophilicity and foaming behavior of PLA, poly (ethylene glycol) (PEG) was selected as a good additive to blend with PLA. It revealed that the introduction of PEG could improve the foaming behavior of PLA and promote the formation of opening cells via reducing the matrix strength of PLA. The obtained 3D PLA/PEG scaffolds exhibited high expansion ratio (9.1), high open-cell content (95.2%), and super-hydrophilicity (water contact angle 0°). Additionally, the mouse fibroblast NIH/3T3 cells with live/dead cell fluorescence staining assay was utilized to examine the biocompatibility of PLA/PEG scaffolds. The result demonstrated that the proliferation ratio of NIH/3 T3 cells on the surface of PLA/PEG scaffolds was higher than that of PLA scaffolds, indicating that the highly interconnected cell structure was conducive to cell adhesion and attachment. Consequently, such hydrophilic open-cell structure obtained by adding PEG into PLA possesses great potential for use in tissue engineering.

Keywords: Poly (lactic acid) scaffolds; Supercritical foaming; Tissue engineering.

MeSH terms

Animals
Biocompatible Materials / chemistry
Biocompatible Materials / pharmacology
Carbon Dioxide*
Hydrophobic and Hydrophilic Interactions
Lactic Acid / chemistry
Mice
Polyesters / chemistry
Porosity
Tissue Engineering
Tissue Scaffolds* / chemistry

Substances

Biocompatible Materials
Polyesters
Carbon Dioxide
Lactic Acid