Characterization of poly(lactic acid) melt spun fiber aligned scaffolds prepared with hot pressing method

Abstract

Aligned fiber scaffolds are known to control cell behavior in vitro due to contact guidance and have potential applications as a cell carrier, ligament substrate, drug loading and release, nerve regeneration, implantable functional muscle, bone repair and meniscus tissue engineering. Aligned fiber scaffolds are often prepared by electrospinning, however in this study, poly(lactic acid) (PLA) melt spun fiber aligned scaffolds were prepared by a hot pressing method using a temperature of 60–180 °C. The hot pressing temperature plays an important role in surface and cross sectional morphology, dimensions, fiber parallel arrangement, thickness, pore diameter, porosity, water absorption and stress. The results indicate that PLA melt spun fiber aligned scaffolds prepared at 60 °C had optimum physical properties for applications in tissue engineering.