Template mediated nanofibrous structureNovel chitosan/polyethylene glycol scaffold for tissue engineering

Abstract

Biodegradable polymers have been widely used as scaffolding materials to regenerate new tissues. To mimic natural extra cellular matrix architecture, a novel three-dimensional fiber matrix with a fiber diameter ranging from 20 to 200 nm, has been created from chitosan/polyethylene glycol blending solution in this study. These nano-fiber matrixes were prepared from the polymer solutions by a method of template assisted process involving thermally induced gelation. The growths of these fibers were to be guided by infiltrating the polymer solution into the nanochannel of an anodic aluminum oxide (aao) template in contact with a silicon substrate with vacuum suction. The effects of polymer concentration, polymer molecular weight and channel diameter on the nano-scale structures were studied. In general, at a low chitosan/polyethylene glycol concentration (1 wt%) and low chitosan molecular weight (150000), a directional nano-fiber matrix was formed. Under the conditions for nano-fiber matrix formation, the average fiber diameter (20–250 nm) was changed statistically with nanochannel diameter and the fiber length was changed with the polymer concentration and nanochannel diameter. This synthetic analogue of natural extra cellular matrix combined the advantages of biodegradable polymers and the nano-scale architecture of extra cellular matrix, and may provide a better environment for cell attachment.