School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia.
J Mater Sci Mater Med. 2011 Feb;22(2):279-88. doi: 10.1007/s10856-010-4194-2. Epub 2010 Dec 19.
The aim of this study was to fabricate three-dimensional (3D) porous chitosan/poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL) hydrogels with improved mechanical properties for tissue engineering applications. A modified emulsion lyophilisation technique was developed to produce 3D chitosan/PCL hydrogels. The addition of 25 and 50 wt% of PCL into chitosan substantially enhanced the compressive strength of composite hydrogel 160 and 290%, respectively, compared to pure chitosan hydrogel. The result of ATR-FTIR imaging corroborated that PCL and chitosan were well mixed and physically co-existed in the composite structures. The composite hydrogels were constructed of homogenous structure with average pore size of 59.7 ± 14 μm and finer pores with average size of 4.4 ± 2 μm on the wall of these larger pores. The SEM and confocal laser scanning microscopy images confirmed that fibroblast cells were attached and proliferated on the 3D structure of these composite hydrogels. The composite hydrogels acquired in this study possessed homogeneous porous structure with improved mechanical strength and integrity. They may have a high potential for the production of 3D hydrogels for tissue engineering applications.
本研究旨在制备具有改善的机械性能的三维（3D）多孔壳聚糖/聚（ε-己内酯）（PCL）水凝胶，用于组织工程应用。开发了一种改良的乳液冷冻干燥技术来生产 3D 壳聚糖/PCL 水凝胶。与纯壳聚糖水凝胶相比，将 25 和 50wt%的 PCL 添加到壳聚糖中，分别使复合水凝胶的抗压强度提高了 160%和 290%。ATR-FTIR 成像结果证实，PCL 和壳聚糖很好地混合并且在复合结构中物理共存。复合水凝胶的结构均匀，平均孔径为 59.7±14μm，较大孔径壁上的小孔平均尺寸为 4.4±2μm。SEM 和共聚焦激光扫描显微镜图像证实，成纤维细胞附着并在这些复合水凝胶的 3D 结构上增殖。本研究中获得的复合水凝胶具有均匀的多孔结构，机械强度和完整性得到改善。它们可能具有用于组织工程应用的 3D 水凝胶生产的高潜力。
