Preparation and Characterization of Poly(ethylene-co-vinyl alcohol)/poly(ε-caprolactone) Blend for Bioscaffolding Applications.

Taieb Aouak,Ali Alrahlah,Waseem Sharaf Saeed,Hussain Alattas,Abdel-Basit Al-Odayni,Abdulaziz Ali Alghamdi

doi:10.3390/ijms21165881

Abstract

In order to improve the cell adhesion on poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL) scaffolds, poly(ethylene-co-vinyl alcohol) (E-VAL) which has hydroxyl groups capable of developing hydrogen bonds with celling was blended with this polymer. To reach this goal, a series of E-VAL/PCL blends with different compositions were prepared by the solvent casting method. The miscibility of the polymer blend was proved by differential scanning calorimetry and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy spectrometry. Furthermore, the mechanical properties of the polymer blends were assessed in their wet state by dynamic mechanical analysis. The surfaces wettability of blends and their components were examined through static contact angle measurements. The pore interconnections in the resulted scaffolds were achieved by the incorporation of naphthalene microparticles which were used as porogen and then removed in its gas state by sublimation under reduced pressure. The presence of pores interconnected inside the polymeric materials and their surface morphologies was examined by scanning electron microscopy. The in-vitro cytotoxicity and cell adhesion on the prepared materials were examined by an MTT (3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide) assay.

Highlights

The development and commercialization of new polymers are costly efforts, which usually require many years of work
The results showed that the PCL with RGDC modification promoted initial bone marrow stromal cell (BMSC) attachment, spreading, and formation of focal adhesion
The cell adhesion, tensile strength, and miscibility of PCL blended with poly(L-lactic acid) (PL-LA) was investigated by Khatri et al [16] A comparative enhancement of cell adhesion was found for PL-LA and PCL/PL-LA blends containing higher PL-LA content

Summary

Introduction

The development and commercialization of new polymers are costly efforts, which usually require many years of work. The competitive viscoelastic and rheological properties of PCL enormously facilitate their manufacture and handling into a large range of implants and other devices [6] It is a food and drug administration (FDA)-approved biodegradable and biocompatible polymer, and with the availability of low-cost production routes, it provides a promising base for producing long-term degradable implants since it can be physiochemically tailored to control the biodegradation process to suit specific anatomical needs [7]. Plasma treatment allows the incorporation of different functional groups on the surface of PCL, thereby tuning its properties [5,6] This route permits the modification of the surface energy and surface wettability of the resulting polymer, leading to drastic changes of the cell adhesion behavior [5,6,7]. The suitability of PCL/PL-LA nanofibrouse tubes was demonstrated for nerve tissue regeneration and tissue growth

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