Related Experiment Video
Updated: Sep 29, 2025
A Facile and Eco-friendly Route to Fabricate PolyLactic Acid Scaffolds with Graded Pore Size
Published on: October 17, 2016
Fabrication of super-hydrophilic and highly open-porous poly (lactic acid) scaffolds using supercritical carbon
Qian Ren1, Xiuyu Zhu2, Wanwan Li2
1Ningbo 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.
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.
