A Solvent-Free Surface Suspension Melt Technique for Making Biodegradable PCL Membrane Scaffolds for Tissue Engineering Applications
Ratima Suntornnond,
Jia An,
Ajay Tijore,
Kah Fai Leong,
Chee Kai Chua,
Lay Poh Tan
Affiliations
Ratima Suntornnond
Singapore Centre for 3D Printing, School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, Block N3.1, 50 Nanyang Avenue, Singapore 639798, Singapore
Jia An
Singapore Centre for 3D Printing, School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, Block N3.1, 50 Nanyang Avenue, Singapore 639798, Singapore
Ajay Tijore
School of Materials Science and Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, Block N4.1, 50 Nanyang Avenue, Singapore 639798, Singapore
Kah Fai Leong
Singapore Centre for 3D Printing, School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, Block N3.1, 50 Nanyang Avenue, Singapore 639798, Singapore
Chee Kai Chua
Singapore Centre for 3D Printing, School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, Block N3.1, 50 Nanyang Avenue, Singapore 639798, Singapore
Lay Poh Tan
School of Materials Science and Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, Block N4.1, 50 Nanyang Avenue, Singapore 639798, Singapore
In tissue engineering, there is limited availability of a simple, fast and solvent-free process for fabricating micro-porous thin membrane scaffolds. This paper presents the first report of a novel surface suspension melt technique to fabricate a micro-porous thin membrane scaffolds without using any organic solvent. Briefly, a layer of polycaprolactone (PCL) particles is directly spread on top of water in the form of a suspension. After that, with the use of heat, the powder layer is transformed into a melted layer, and following cooling, a thin membrane is obtained. Two different sizes of PCL powder particles (100 µm and 500 µm) are used. Results show that membranes made from 100 µm powders have lower thickness, smaller pore size, smoother surface, higher value of stiffness but lower ultimate tensile load compared to membranes made from 500 µm powder. C2C12 cell culture results indicate that the membrane supports cell growth and differentiation. Thus, this novel membrane generation method holds great promise for tissue engineering.
