University Politehnica of Bucharest, RO-060042 Bucharest, Romania.
National Institute for Materials Physics, RO-077125 Magurele, Romania.
Int J Mol Sci. 2023 Sep 17;24(18):14201. doi: 10.3390/ijms241814201.
The current study reports on the fabrication of composite scaffolds based on polycaprolactone (PCL) and cerium (Ce)-containing powders, followed by their characterization from compositional, structural, morphological, optical and biological points of view. First, CeO, Ce-doped calcium phosphates and Ce-substituted bioglass were synthesized by wet-chemistry methods (precipitation/coprecipitation and sol-gel) and subsequently loaded on PCL fibres processed by electrospinning. The powders were proven to be nanometric or micrometric, while the investigation of their phase composition showed that Ce was present as a dopant within the crystal lattice of the obtained calcium phosphates or as crystalline domains inside the glassy matrix. The best bioactivity was attained in the case of Ce-containing bioglass, while the most pronounced antibacterial effect was visible for Ce-doped calcium phosphates calcined at a lower temperature. The scaffolds were composed of either dimensionally homogeneous fibres or mixtures of fibres with a wide size distribution and beads of different shapes. In most cases, the increase in polymer concentration in the precursor solution ensured the achievement of more ordered fibre mats. The immersion in SBF for 28 days triggered an incipient degradation of PCL, evidenced mostly through cracks and gaps. In terms of biological properties, the composite scaffolds displayed a very good biocompatibility when tested with human osteoblast cells, with a superior response for the samples consisting of the polymer and Ce-doped calcium phosphates.
本研究报告了基于聚己内酯(PCL)和含铈(Ce)粉末的复合材料支架的制备,并从组成、结构、形态、光学和生物学角度对其进行了表征。首先,采用湿化学法(沉淀/共沉淀和溶胶-凝胶)合成了 CeO、Ce 掺杂的磷酸钙和 Ce 取代的生物玻璃,然后将其负载在静电纺丝处理的 PCL 纤维上。粉末被证明是纳米级或微米级的,而对其相组成的研究表明,Ce 作为掺杂剂存在于所得到的磷酸钙的晶格中,或作为玻璃基质中的晶态域。含 Ce 的生物玻璃表现出最佳的生物活性,而在较低温度下煅烧的 Ce 掺杂磷酸钙则表现出最明显的抗菌效果。支架由尺寸均匀的纤维或纤维与具有较宽尺寸分布的纤维混合物和不同形状的珠粒组成。在大多数情况下,增加前驱体溶液中的聚合物浓度可确保获得更有序的纤维毡。在 SBF 中浸泡 28 天后,PCL 开始降解,主要表现为出现裂缝和空隙。在生物性能方面,当用人类成骨细胞进行测试时,复合支架表现出很好的生物相容性,而由聚合物和 Ce 掺杂的磷酸钙组成的样品具有更好的反应。