Fabrication of Virgin Coconut Oil-Loaded Electrospun Polycaprolactone/Polyurethane Membrane for Application in Vascular Engineering

Abstract

The mortality and morbidity caused by vascular diseases has resulted in an ever-persistent demand for artificial vascular graft replacing injured vessels. The electrospun combination of polyurethane (PU) and polycaprolactone (PCL) has proved its potential for the application as vascular graft but it lacks sufficient antithrombotic properties. Based on its biological properties and sustainable costs, virgin coconut oil (VCO) could be a promising additional anticoagulant agent for the PU/PCL composite.This research fabricates PU/PCL electrospun scaffold loaded with various concentrations of VCO. The parameters of electrospinning were varied to obtain suitable membranes. The effects of these parameters and the VCO on the morphological and mechanical properties of PU/PCL were investigated by scanning electron microscope and tensile strength assay.It was revealed that the condition set of 12 cm tip-to-collector, 20 kV applied and 0.5 mL/h flow rate yielded suitable electrospun membranes with various VCO percentages. The loaded VCO decreased the mechanical strength of the membranes. The ultimate stress and strain of the membranes decreased accordingly with higher content of VCO but did not drop below the acceptable limit. This study has obtained the electrospun PU/PCL membrane loaded with VCO processing appropriate morphology and mechanical properties. The loading of VCO altered the fabricated membranes but they still satisfied vascular graft requirements. Therefore, the PU/PCL loaded with VCO membranes are promising for further research as artificial blood vessels.