Electrospun Polycaprolactone/lignin-based Nanocomposite as a Novel Tissue Scaffold for Biomedical Applications

Abstract

Biopolymer scaffolds have received great interest in academic and industrial environment because of their supreme characteristics like biological, mechanical, chemical, and cost saving in the biomedical science. There are various attempts for incorporation of biopolymers with cheap natural micro- or nanoparticles like lignin (Lig), alginate, and gums to prepare new materials with enhanced properties. In this work, the electrospinning (ELS) technique as a promising cost-effective method for producing polymeric scaffold fibers was used, which mimics extracellular matrix structure for soft tissue engineering applications. Nanocomposites of Lig and polycaprolactone (PCL) scaffold produced with ELS technique. Nanocomposite containings (0, 5, 10, and 15 wt.%) of Lig were prepared with addition of Lig powder into the PCL solution while stirring at the room temperature. The bioactivity, swelling properties, morphological and mechanical tests were conducted for all the samples to investigate the nanocomposite scaffold features. The results showed that scaffold with 10 wt.% Lig have appropriate porosity, biodegradation, minimum fiber diameter, optimum pore size as well as enhanced tensile strength, and young modulus compared with pure PCL. Degradation test performed through immersion of samples in the phosphate-buffer saline showed that degradation of PCL nanocomposites could accelerate up to 10% due to the addition of Lig. Electrospun PCL-Lig scaffold enhanced the biological response of the cells with the mechanical signals. The prepared nanocomposite scaffold can choose for potential candidate in the biomedical science.