Morphological Comparison of PLGA/Gelatin Scaffolds Produced by Freeze Casting and Freeze Drying Methods

Abstract

In this research, PLGA/Gelatin scaffolds were prepared by both freeze drying and freeze casting methods and their physical, mechanical and morphological observations were evaluated and compared to each other. The pore size and percent of porosity was measure for scaffolds fabricated by both freeze drying and freeze casting techniques. These values were more than 200μm and 95%, respectively. The results of scanning electron microscope (SEM) showed that freeze-cast scaffolds had aligned structures in comparison with freeze drying scaffolds whereas these kinds of microstructure were not seen for samples produced by freeze drying method. The compressive strength for freeze-cast scaffolds (3.2 MPa) was higher than freeze drying samples (2.1 MPa). Although adsorption percentage of freeze cast scaffolds was 650%, this parameter was 450% for freeze drying samples. Based on the obtained results, it seems that the freeze-cast scaffolds are able to support cell attachment, to maintain the required structural integrity and to prevent the pores of the scaffolds from collapsing during neo-tissue formation.