Effect of foaming condition on the pore characteristic for porous polycaprolactone/hydroxyapatite (PCL/HA) composite

Abstract

Porous polycaprolactone/hydroxyapatite (PCL/HA) composite has a great potential as a scaffold materials for bone regeneration. The goal of this study is to investigate the effect of foaming conditions on the pore structure characteristics of porous PCL/HA composite. Foaming process was conducted at different temperatures (35, 40 and 45°C) and pressures (10, 20 and 30 MPa) after four hours of CO2 dissolution with fast depressurisation rate. The result found that the average pore diameter had increased with the increasing foaming temperature. However, with increasing foaming pressure, the average pore diameter had decreased significantly. The result found that at 45°C and 10 MPa, monomodal pore distribution was produced, with 61.53% of porosity and 116.78±8.94 µm successfully fabricated as high as at 40 wt% of HA. These pore characteristics are beneficial for the growth of bone tissue.