pps proceeding - Abstract Preview
pps proceeding
Symposium: S21 - Special Symposium: Biopolymers, eco-friendly polymers and recycling
Oral Presentation
 
 

Impact of Electrosprayed PCL/Nano-Hydroxyapatite Particles on the Properties of Electrospun PCL Nanofibers

Karimipour-Fard Pedram (1)*, Rizvi Ghaus (1), Pop-Iliev Remon (1)

(1) University of Ontario Institute of Technology - Ontario - Canada

Electrospun polycaprolactone (PCL) nanofibers are widely used in bioengineering applications. The main research objective of this paper is to conduct an experimental comparative study to assess the effect of electrosprayed PCL, nano-Hydroxyapatite (nHA), and PCL/nHA particles on the mechanical strength, morphology, and biodegradation-rate of electrospun PCL nanofibers. Electrospinning is utilized to process PCL nanofiber specimen scaffolds of various diameters out of three solutions of PCL with varying concentrations of 5%, 7.5% and 10%, respectively. To assess the effect of nanoparticle density and size on properties of the final samples, PCL particles are sprayed on nanofibers by using solutions of 1% to 5% concentrations and nHA is used in original particle sizes of less than 200 nm. Dimethylformamide (DMF) is used as a solvent for both the electrospinning and electrospraying processes. Phosphate buffered saline (PBS) medium together with 5% Carbon Dioxide gas in a CO2 incubator is used to simulate an in vitro environment for performing biodegradation tests. To assess the effects on mechanical strength, dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) tensile test is performed and scanning electron microscope (SEM) is used to investigate the morphology evolution of the samples. The obtained experimental results indicate that it is feasible to manufacture an engineered electrospun tissue scaffold with controlled mechanical strength, morphology, and biodegradation-rate.