Porous poly(ε-caprolactone) scaffolds for load-bearing tissue regeneration: Solventless fabrication and characterization

Three-dimensional interconnected porous poly(ε-caprolactone) scaffolds have been prepared by a novel solventless scaffold fabrication approach combining cryomilling and compression molding/porogen leaching techniques. This study investigated the effects of processing parameters on scaffold morphology and properties for tissue regeneration. Specifically, the effects of molding temperature, cryomilling time, and porogen mix were examined. Fifty percentage of porous scaffolds were fabricated with a range of properties: mean pore size from ∼40 to 125 μm, water uptake from ∼50 to 86%, compressive modulus from ∼45 to 84 MPa, and compressive strength at 10% strain from ∼3 to 4 MPa. Addition of 60 wt % NaCl salt resulted in a ∼50% increase in porosity in multimodal pore-size structures that depended on the method of NaCl addition. Water uptake ranged from ∼61 to 197%, compressive modulus from ∼4 to 8.6 MPa, and compressive strength at 10% strain from ∼0.36 to 0.40 MPa. Results suggest that this approach provides a controllable strategy for the design and fabrication of 3D interconnected porous biodegradable scaffolds for load-bearing tissue regeneration.