Fabrication and characterization of electrospun polylactide/β-tricalcium phosphate hybrid meshes for potential applications in hard tissue repair

Abstract

Non-woven hybrid meshes based on poly(llactide- co-d,l-lactide) (dl-PLA) and β-tricalcium phosphate (β-TCP) were fabricated and comprehensively characterized. Stock suspensions of β-TCP powder in dl- PLA acetone solutions were used for the electrospinning process. Structure, morphology and thermal properties of the electrospun samples were investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The electrospun hybrid materials show a micro-composite structure, and a morphology characterized by a three-dimensional porous fibrous mesh with randomly distributed fibers possessing average fiber diameters between 680 and 970 nm, uniform thickness along the fibers and beads structure only for higher β-TCP concentration electrospun samples. Both pure PLA and hybrid non-woven meshes exhibit a good thermal stability and a continuous degradation in simulated body fluid medium. A live/dead staining viability assay using MC3T3-E1 preosteoblasts reveals the excellent cytocompatibility of the fabricated non-wovens. Enhanced alkaline phosphatase (AP) activity of MC3T3-E1 cells during culture on the dl-PLA and the composite non-woven meshes demonstrates their potential for applications in hard tissue repair.