Poly (Butylene Succinate) Scaffolds Prepared by Leaching

Abstract

In recent years there was an increase in the development of new materials for use in bioengineering mainly related to bone tissue substitutes. A myriad of natural or synthetic materials can be used, such as polymers, ceramics, metals, and composites. In this work, the functionality of poly (butylene succinate), PBS, in producing scaffolds by leaching was studied. PBS is an aliphatic biopolyester, which presents excellent mechanical and osteoconductive properties. PBS is biocompatible, can allow cell adhesion and proliferation in vivo and in vitro as well. Production of scaffolds was performed using a circular die of 1 mm thickness and 8.5 mm diameter, using a hydraulic hot press. The porosity of the scaffolds was reached by the preparation of mixtures with different concentrations of PBS and NaCl. The samples were characterized aiming to observe the formation of the pores. Besides that, the material behavior depending on temperature was also performed. The obtained results allowed inferring that leaching is a fast, little expensive and efficient way to prepare PBS scaffolds.