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Alkali‐Mediated Miscibility of Gelatin/Polycaprolactone for Electrospinning Homogeneous Composite Nanofibers for Tissue Scaffolding
Author(s) -
Zhou Qihui,
Zhang Huilan,
Zhou Ya,
Yu Zhepao,
Yuan Huihua,
Feng Bei,
Rijn Patrick,
Zhang Yanzhong
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
macromolecular bioscience
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.924
H-Index - 105
eISSN - 1616-5195
pISSN - 1616-5187
DOI - 10.1002/mabi.201700268
Subject(s) - miscibility , nanofiber , polycaprolactone , electrospinning , materials science , biocompatibility , gelatin , chemical engineering , composite number , aqueous solution , tissue engineering , polymer , alkali metal , composite material , polymer chemistry , chemistry , organic chemistry , biomedical engineering , medicine , engineering , metallurgy
Electrospun natural‐synthetic composite nanofibers, which possess favorable biological and mechanical properties, have gained widespread attention in tissue engineering. However, the development of biomimetic nanofibers of hybrids remains a huge challenge due to phase separation of the polymer blends. Here, aqueous sodium hydroxide (NaOH) solution is proposed to modulate the miscibility of a representative natural‐synthetic hybrid of gelatin (GT) and polycaprolactone (PCL) for electrospinning homogeneous composite nanofibers. Alkali‐doped GT/PCL solutions and nanofibers examined at macroscopic, microscopic, and internal molecular levels demonstrate appropriate miscibility of GT and PCL after introducing the alkali dopant. Particularly, homogeneous GT/PCL nanofibers with smooth surface and uniform diameter are obtained when aqueous NaOH solution with a concentration of 10 m is used. The fibers become more hydrophilic and possess improved mechanical properties both in dry and wet conditions. Moreover, biocompatibility experiments show that stem cells adhere to and proliferate better on the alkali‐modified nanofibers than the untreated one. This study provides a facile and effective approach to solve the phase separation issue of the synthetic‐natural hybrid GT/PCL and establishes a correlation of compositionally and morphologically homogeneous composite nanofibers with respect to cell responses.