Composite Scaffolds Based on Poly(caprolactone) and Chitosan for Bone Tissue Regeneration

The scaffold material and architecture of the scaffold can affect cell seeding and tissue growth both in vitro and in vivo in the engineering of various tissues. Biocompatible and biodegradable polymers can be used to produce scaffolds in tissue engineering. Poly(caprolactone) PCL and Chitosan are promising biodegradable polymers to fabricate tissue engineering scaffolds. Hydroxyapatite (HA) is osetoconductive and is being used for bone replacement. The composite scaffolds made of these two materials have great potential for bone tissue engineering. This paper reports the fabrication and characterization of three-dimensional, highly porous composite scaffolds produced from HA/PCL and HA/Chitosan. The scaffolds were produced using thermally induced phase separation (TIPS) technique. The structure and properties of composite scaffolds were investigated using various techniques.