Breath figures makes porous the “so-called” skin layer obtained in polymer foams prepared by supercritical CO2 treatments

Abstract

Abstract In this article, the preparation of porous polymeric scaffolds of the synthetic poly (isopropylideneglycerol methacrylate) (PIPGMA) is described combining two complementary techniques. Supercritical CO2 (SCCO2), has been used as foaming agent to obtain internal porosity by varying parameters such as pressure and depressurization time. However, the disadvantage of SCCO2 technology is the formation of a non-porous skin layer described in the majority of the samples. This skin layer was modified by the breath figures technique (BF), providing superficial porosity to the polymeric sample. The result of using both techniques subsequently showed the formation of a porous network throughout the samples with inner and outer pores interconnected, characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), micro X-ray computerized tomography scanning (micro CT), and processing those images with Image J. Finally, preliminary biological evaluation of the porous samples has been carried out in order to evaluate the biocompatibility and cellular viability of these scaffolds.