Authors: Ana M LópezPeriago Arlette Vega Pascale Subra Anna Argemí Javier Saurina Carlos A GarcíaGonzález Concepcion Domingo
Publish Date: 2008/03/01
Volume: 43, Issue: 6, Pages: 1939-1947
Abstract
Supercritical carbon dioxide SCCO2 was used for the preparation of foamed sponges and intermingled fibers of biopolymers with potential applications in tissue engineering and drug delivery The work was focused on the processing of both biodegradable polylactic acid lPLA and nonbiodegradable polymethylmethacrylate PMMA homopolymers Monolithic porous sponges of amorphous PMMA were prepared using SCCO2 as a porogen agent by simple swelling and foaming Under similar experimental conditions lPLA was crystallized The study also addresses the impregnation of biopolymers with an active agent dispersed in SCCO2 The drug used for impregnation was triflusal a platelet antiaggregant inhibitor for thrombogenic cardiovascular diseases Foaming often leads to a closed pore structure after depressurization which is disadvantageous for 3D scaffolds as it does not fulfill the requirement of interconnectivity necessary for cell migration To overcome these drawbacks fibers forming macroporous structures were prepared using a semicontinuous antisolvent SAS techniqueThe financial support of EU Project STRP SurfaceT NMP2CT2005013524 and the Spanish MEC projects MAT200525567E MAT200628189E and MAT200525503E are greatly acknowledged A M LopezPeriago and C A GarcíaGonzález give acknowledgment to CSIC for its funding support through I3P fellowships
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