Preparation and Characterization of Electrospun PCL/Silk Fibroin Scaffolds

Abstract

Natural polymer-based scaffolds are generally considered as favourable matrices for <br /> the adhesion and growth of cells in tissue repair. One of the most popular materials in <br /> this respect is silk fibroin, known for its wide usage in biomedical applications. This work focuses on the development of electrospun scaffolds based on poly(ε-caprolactone) <br /> (PCL) and silk fibroin (SF) evaluated regarding the SF effect on their morphology, surface wetting ability, thermal properties, and HaCaT model cell line biocompatibility. The <br /> study revealed that the lowest PCL/SF concentration resulted in highest bead-like morphology formation, relatively thick fibers with the presence of random beads in the case of PCL, while uniform and thinner fibers in the case of increasing PCL/SF content scaffolds. The addition of SF reduced the degree of crystallinity in the PCL due to the less <br /> organized crystal structure, and decreased its thermal stability. Both SEM and MTT analyses showed cell presence on all scaffolds three days after cell seeding. Although SF <br /> improved PCL hydrophilicity, as shown quantitatively by the MTT assay for improved <br /> cytocompatibility properties, more structured electrospun PCL/SF scaffold strategies are <br /> required.