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Updated: May 22, 2026

A Facile and Eco-friendly Route to Fabricate Poly(Lactic Acid) Scaffolds with Graded Pore Size
Published on: October 17, 2016
Layer-by-layer assembly of antibacterial coating on interbonded 3D fibrous scaffolds and its cytocompatibility
Yanwei Tang1, Yan Zhao, Hongxia Wang
1Australian Future Fibres Research and Innovation Centre, Institute for Frontier Materials, Deakin University, Geelong, VIC 3217, Victoria, Australia.
Abstract:
Bonded fibrous matrices have shown great potential in tissue engineering because of their unique 3D structures and pore characteristics. For some applications, bacterial infections must be taken into account, and antibacterial function is highly desired. In this study, an antibacterial polymer, polyhexamethylene biguanide (PHMB), was applied onto the fiber surface of a bonded poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL) fibrous matrix with the objective to achieve both strong antibacterial effect and good cell compatibility. The coatings were prepared by using an electrostatic layer-by-layer (LbL) assembly technique, which allowed the control of PHMB loading and coating uniformity on the fiber surface. The PHMB coating provided antibacterial activities, but had no toxicity on mammalian cells. This bonded PCL fibrous matrix with electrostatically self-assembled PHMB may provide a new antiinfective tissue scaffold for various biomedical applications.

