Pgs/PLLA Fibers Scaffolds By Core/Shell Electrospinning

Abstract

One of the major challenges in the field of biomaterials research is the replication of the complex elasticity of soft tissues, an innate non-linear mechanical property not yet adequately replicated by thermoplastic polymers. In this work, non-linearly elastic biomaterials have been successfully fabricated from a chemically crosslinked elastomeric composite of poly(glycerol sebacate) (PGS) and thermoplastic poly(L-lactic acid) (PLLA) using the core/shell electrospinning technique. The spun fibrous materials containing a PGS core and  PLLA shell demonstrate J-shaped stress-strain curves, having ultimate tensile strength (UTS), rupture elongation and stiffness constants of 1 ± 0.2 MPa, 25 ± 3 % and 12 ± 2, respectively, which are comparable to muscle tissue properties reported previously. In vitro evaluations also show that the PGS/PLLA fibrous biomaterials demonstrate excellent biocompatibility, comparable to PLLA. The core/shell electrospinning process thus provides an opportunity to develop biomaterials with controllable elastic properties and defined degradation kinetics, suitable as scaffolds for the repair of a wide range of soft tissues with cyclic elastic functions, such as tendon, ligament, cardiac or smooth muscle and lung epithelium.