Elastic poly(e caprolactone) polydimethylsiloxane copolymer fibers with shape memory effect for bone tissue engineering.
A porous shape memory scaffold with biomimetic architecture is highly promising for bone tissue engineering applications. In this study, a series of new shape memory polyurethanes consisting of organic poly(e caprolactone) (PCL) segments and inorganic polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) segments in different ratios (9 1, 8 2 and 7 3) was synthesised. These PCL PDMS copolymers were further engineered into porous fibrous scaffolds by electrospinning. With different ratios of PCL: PDMS, the fibers showed various fiber diameters, thermal behaviour and mechanical properties. Even after being processed into fibrous structures, these PCL PDMS copolymers maintained their shape memory properties, and all the fibers exhibited excellent shape recovery ratios of >90% and shape fixity ratios of >92% after 7 thermo mechanical cycles. Biological assay results corroborated that the fibrous PCL PDMS scaffolds were biocompatible by promoting osteoblast proliferation, functionally enhanced biomineralization relevant alkaline phosphatase expression and mineral deposition. Our study demonstrated that the PCL PDMS fibers with excellent shape memory properties are promising substrates as bioengineered grafts for bone regeneration.
Biomedical materials