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Characterization of highly interconnected porous poly(lactic acid) and chitosan-coated poly(lactic acid) scaffold fabricated by vacuum-assisted resin transfer molding and particle leaching

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Abstract

Polylactic acid (PLA) scaffolds were prepared using vacuum-assisted resin transfer molding (VARTM), phase separation, solvent extraction, and particle leaching approaches. A chitosan (CS)-coated PLA scaffold was then fabricated using CS coating treatment. To control the pore morphology and porosity, different processing parameters, such as NaCl particle size and PLA solution concentrations were studied. The properties of porous PLA and CS-coated PLA scaffold, including the microstructure, porosity, water absorption, hydrophilicity, compression modulus, and compression strength were investigated. The results showed that PLA and CS-coated PLA scaffold with porosities as high as 94 %, water absorption up to 1200 %, and compressive modulus ranging from 241 to 442 kPa were produced. The pore morphology on the surface and within the scaffold showed the presence of multiple open pores with excellent interconnectivity. Additionally, the CS-coated PLA scaffold showed significantly improved hydrophilicity and mechanical properties compared to the untreated PLA scaffold. Hence, the CS-coated PLA scaffold was expected to exhibit a better biocompatibility than PLA scaffold because of the enhancement of the hydrophilicity.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to acknowledge the financial support of the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 51303027), the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (Grant No. 2014M560525), the University Scientific Research Foundation of Fujian (Grant No. JK2014030), the Opening Foundation of National Center for International Research of Micro-nano Molding Technology & Key Laboratory for Micro Molding Technology of Henan Province (MMT2016-02), and the Postdoctoral Science Foundation of Fuzhou University (Grant No. 650077).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Materials Science and Engineering, Fuzhou University, Fuzhou, 350116, China

    Sen Zeng, Zhixiang Cui, Zhangqiang Yang, Kaiping Peng & Wenzhe Chen

  2. School of Materials Science and Engineering, Fujian University of Technology, Fuzhou, 350118, Fujian, China

    Zhixiang Cui, Junhui Si, Qianting Wang & Wenzhe Chen

  3. National Center for International Research of Micro-nano Molding Technology & Key Laboratory for Micro Molding Technology of Henan Province, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, 450001, Henan, China

    Zhixiang Cui & Xiaofeng Wang

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  1. Sen Zeng
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Correspondence to Zhixiang Cui or Wenzhe Chen.

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Zeng, S., Cui, Z., Yang, Z. et al. Characterization of highly interconnected porous poly(lactic acid) and chitosan-coated poly(lactic acid) scaffold fabricated by vacuum-assisted resin transfer molding and particle leaching. J Mater Sci 51, 9958–9970 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10853-016-0203-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10853-016-0203-2

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