Premium
Biodegradable fibrous scaffolds composed of gelatin coated poly(ϵ‐caprolactone) prepared by coaxial electrospinning
Author(s) -
Zhao Pengcheng,
Jiang Hongliang,
Pan Hui,
Zhu Kangjie,
Chen Weiliam
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
journal of biomedical materials research part a
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.849
H-Index - 150
eISSN - 1552-4965
pISSN - 1549-3296
DOI - 10.1002/jbm.a.31242
Subject(s) - materials science , electrospinning , gelatin , glutaraldehyde , composite material , core (optical fiber) , fiber , caprolactone , shell (structure) , morphology (biology) , adhesion , chemical engineering , polymer , polymerization , medicine , biochemistry , chemistry , pathology , biology , engineering , genetics
A facile coaxial electrospinning technique was devised to prepare biodegradable core‐shell fibrous scaffolds with poly(ϵ‐caprolactone) (PCL) comprising the core structure and gelatin forming the coating of the fibers. The effect of the feed rate of the inner dope on the electrospinning process and fiber morphology was investigated. The results indicated that core‐shell fibers with narrow size distribution and smooth surface morphology could be obtained when the feed rate was below 8 mL/h. An increase of the feed rate resulted in analogous increase in the diameters of both the inner PCL fiber core and the entire core‐shell fibers. XPS analyses revealed that the surface of the core‐shell fibers was tainted with a small amount of PCL. The outer gelatin layer in the core‐shell fibers was crosslinked with glutaraldehyde. By optimizing the glutaraldehyde/gelatin feed ratio, crosslinked scaffolds with high porosity were obtained. The mechanic strength of the hydrated, crosslinked core‐shell fibrous scaffolds was significantly enhanced because of the presence of hydrophobic PCL in the core region of the fibers. Results of cell culture studies suggested that the crosslinked, core‐shell fibrous scaffold were nontoxic and capable of supporting fibroblast adhesion and proliferation. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res 2007