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Impregnation of β‐tricalcium phosphate robocast scaffolds by in situ polymerization
Author(s) -
MartínezVázquez Francisco J.,
Perera Fidel H.,
Meulen Inge van der,
Heise Andreas,
Pajares Antonia,
Miranda Pedro
Publication year - 2013
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.34609
Subject(s) - materials science , polymerization , ceramic , polymer , in situ polymerization , porosity , chemical engineering , composite material , copolymer , engineering
Ring‐opening polymerization of ε‐caprolactone (ε‐CL) and L ‐lactide (LLA) was performed to impregnate β‐tricalcium phosphate (β‐TCP) scaffolds fabricated by robocasting. Concentrated colloidal inks prepared from β‐TCP commercial powders were used to fabricate porous structures consisting of a 3D mesh of interpenetrating rods. ε‐CL and LLA were in situ polymerized within the ceramic structure by using a lipase and stannous octanoate, respectively, as catalysts. The results show that both the macropores inside the ceramic mesh and the micropores within the ceramic rods are full of polymer in either case. The mechanical properties of scaffolds impregnated by in situ polymerization (ISP) are significantly increased over those of the bare structures, exhibiting similar values than those obtained by other, more aggressive, impregnation methods such as melt‐immersion (MI). ISP using enzymatic catalysts requires a reduced processing temperature which could facilitate the incorporation of growth factors and other drugs into the polymer composition, thus enhancing the bioactivity of the composite scaffold. The implications of these results for the optimization of the mechanical and biological performance of scaffolds for bone tissue engineering applications are discussed. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res Part A: 101A: 3086–3096, 2013.