%0 Journal Article
%T Interconnected porous poly(£¿
%A Feifei Liu
%A Jing Jiang
%A Lih-Sheng Turng
%A Max R Salick
%A Qian Li
%A Travis Cordie
%A Xiaofeng Wang
%A Xuyan Li
%A Yanhong Gao
%J Journal of Cellular Plastics
%@ 1530-7999
%D 2018
%R 10.1177/0021955X16681470
%X In tissue engineering applications, a scaffold containing an interconnected porous structure is often highly desirable since these interconnected pores allow nutrients and signaling molecules to reach all of the cultured cells. In this study, microcellular injection molding, a mass production method for foamed plastic components, was combined with chemical foaming and particulate leaching methods to fabricate an interconnected porous structure using poly(£¿-caprolactone) (PCL). Sodium bicarbonate (SB) was employed as the chemical foaming agent while carbon dioxide (CO2) was used as the physical foaming (blowing) agent. The results showed that interconnected porous structures of PCL, which depend on the composition of the materials used, could be successfully produced. Sodium bicarbonate not only generated CO2 to supplement the supercritical fluid microcellular injection molding, but also served as the nuclei for heterogeneous cell nucleation. Sodium bicarbonate and its byproduct, sodium carbonate, were also the porogens in the particulate leaching process, which further enhanced the porosity and interconnectivity. The morphologies and mechanical properties of the samples with different material compositions and porosities were discussed. The results of cell viability assays of 3T3 fibroblasts suggested that the resulting interconnected porous PCL scaffolds exhibited good biocompatibility. Cell spreading was affected by the porosity of the scaffold because of the physical restriction effect on the cell migration. Highly improved interconnectivity of the scaffold provided more space for the cells to spread
%K Cell growth
%K chemical foaming/blowing agent
%K compression behaviors
%K decomposition
%K injection foam molding
%K physical foaming/blowing agent
%U https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0021955X16681470