Fabrication of bioactive glass particles composite porous fibers by combination of electrospinning and phase separation

Abstract

Abstract In the present study, a porous electrospun polycaprolactone (PCL) scaffold incorporated with bioactive glass (BG) particles was fabricated by combining phase separation with electrospinning. Chloroform (CF) and dimethyl formamide (DMF) were used as good solvents, while dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) was used as a poor solvent to generate pores on the fiber surface. The effects of PCL concentration, DMSO amount and BG particles dosage on the surface morphology of electrospun fibers were investigated, respectively. Fibrous scaffolds with well-distributed pores and uniform diameter were successfully obtained by using 12%\u202fw/v PCL in solution with good/poor solvent ratios at 90% v/v. The addition of BG particles ( 8 % w / v ) in electrospun solution did not lead to any deformation of the porous fibers. The porous fibrous scaffolds incorporated with BG particles may be a promising scaffolds for soft tissue engineering.