The Effect of Ozone Treatment on the Physicochemical Properties and Biocompatibility of Electrospun...

Ozonation has been proved as a viable surface modification technique providing certain properties to the scaffolds that are essential in tissue engineering. However, the ozone (O₃) treatment of PCL scaffolds in aqueous environments has not yet been presented. O₃ treatment performed in aqueous environments is more effective compared with traditional, executed in ambient air treatment due to more abundant production of hydroxyl radicals (•OH) within the O₃ reaction with water molecules. During interaction with •OH, the scaffold acquires functional groups which improve wettability properties and encapsulate growth factors. In this study, a poly(ε)caprolactone (PCL) scaffold was fabricated using solution electrospinning and was subsequently ozonated in a water reactor. The O₃ treatment resulted in the expected occurrence of oxygen-containing functional groups, which improved scaffold wettability by almost 27% and enhanced cell proliferation for up to 14 days. The PCL scaffold was able to withhold 120 min of O₃ treatment, maintaining fibrous morphology and mechanical properties.