Chemical Engineering Journal, Vol.279, 317-326, 2015
Electrohydrodynamic direct printing of PCL/collagen fibrous scaffolds with a core/shell structure for tissue engineering applications
A new fabrication method is described using a combination of an electrohydrodynamic jet and a bio-printing process to obtain a multi-layered fibrous poly(epsilon-caprolactone)(PCL)/collagen scaffold consisting of ultra-fine fibrous struts, which are designed with core (non-fibrous structure) and shell (fibrous bundles) regions. The goal of the new scaffold was to achieve mechanically stable and controllable micropore structure, which cannot be attained in conventional electrospun fibrous mats. To obtain the scaffold, we used a core/shell nozzle in the process and manipulated the various concentrations and flow rates of PCL solution in the core region so that variable mechanical properties of the scaffold could be achieved. The newly designed scaffold showed significantly better mechanical properties (>3-fold) compared with an electrospun fibrous mat, fabricated with a standard electrospinning process. To demonstrate suitability as a biomedical scaffold, scaffolds coated with type I collagen were tested not only for in vitro cellular activities, including cell attachment, proliferation, and differentiation using preosteoblasts (MC3T3-E1 cells), but also for various physical and mechanical properties, including water and protein absorption. The results demonstrated that the fibrous hybrid scaffold provided significantly greater cellular activity relative to the general electrospun fibrous mat due to the enhanced mechanical properties and pore structure controllability. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Keywords:Electrohydrodynamic direct-writing;Poly(epsilon-caprolactone);Collagen;Fibrous scaffold;MC3T3-E1