Degradation and Characterisation of Electrospun Polycaprolactone (PCL) and Poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) Scaffolds for Vascular Tissue Engineering

The current study aimed to evaluate the characteristics and the effects of degradation on the structural properties of Poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA)- and polycaprolactone (PCL)-based nanofibrous scaffolds. Six scaffolds were prepared by electrospinning, three with PCL 15% (w/v) and three with PLGA 10% (w/v), with electrospinning processing times of 30, 60 and 90 min. Both types of scaffolds displayed more robust mechanical properties with increased spinning times. The tensile strength of both scaffolds with 90-min electrospun membranes did not show a significant difference in their strengths, as the PCL and PLGA scaffolds measured at 1.492 MPa ± 0.378 SD and 1.764 MPa ± 0.7982 SD, respectively. All membranes were shown to be hydrophobic under a wettability test. A degradation behaviour study was performed by immersing all scaffolds in phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) solution at room temperature for 12 weeks and for 4 weeks at 37 °C. The effects of degradation were monitored by taking each sample out of the PBS solution every week, and the structural changes were investigated under a scanning electron microscope (SEM). The PCL and PLGA scaffolds showed excellent fibre structure with adequate degradation, and the fibre diameter, measured over time, showed slight increase in size. Therefore, as an example of fibre water intake and progressive degradation, the scaffold’s percentage weight loss increased each week, further supporting the porous membrane’s degradability. The pore size and the porosity percentage of all scaffolds decreased substantially over the degradation period. The conclusion drawn from this experiment is that PCL and PLGA hold great promise for tissue engineering and regenerative medicine applications.