Novel fabrication technique for three‐dimensional micropatterned electrospun poly(DL‐lactide‐co‐glycolide) acid

Abstract

AbstractCurrent tissue engineering scaffolds created by electrospinning techniques are mostly limited to two‐dimensional membranes. In this article, a novel method for fabricating three‐dimensional (3D) fibrous scaffolds is presented. The fabrication technique uses the saturation of carbon dioxide in poly(lactide‐co‐glycolide) acid to lower the glass‐transition temperature of the polymer to allow for the sintering of multiple layers of electrospun films. The effect of gas saturation on the films was first examined by variation of the saturation pressure and time. Fiber sintering was observed as the saturation pressure and time were increased. Next, the adhesion strength between two layers of scaffolds that were sintered by gas saturation was examined, and a higher pressure of 400 psi was found to better adhere the layers of the membranes together. From the first two parts of this study, the optimal combination of gas saturation parameters was determined to a pressure of 400 psi for 3 min. With this set of parameters, 3D structures were fabricated by the sintering of 30 layers of electrospun scaffolds. Also, by patterning individual layers using microfeatured plates, we improved the open porosity. This demonstration of the ability to fabricate 3D scaffolds improves current electrospinning techniques and maintains a desirable fibrous structure for tissue engineering. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2012