Fabrication and Characterization of 3D Graded PDMS Scaffolds Using Vacuum-Assisted Resin Transfer Moulding

Abstract

Graded porous scaffold can be applied to study the interactions between cells and scaffold with different pore sizes. Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) scaffold with an axial pore size grade was successfully manufactured via vacuum-assisted resin transfer moulding (VARTM) and particle leaching technologies. The properties of graded PDMS scaffolds, including porosity, water absorption, interconnectivity, compression modulus, as well as compression strength were investigated. The results showed that the smaller the size of the NaCl particles is, the higher the porosity and water absorption of graded PDMS scaffolds would be. The graded PDMS scaffold fabricated had a compressive modulus and a compressive strength of 19.69±1.42 kPa and 4.76±0.22 kPa, respectively. Moreover, the graded chitosan (CS)-coated PDMS scaffolds were prepared by using dip-coating technique under low vacuum and their hydrophilicity was examined. It is found that the water contact angle (WCA) will decrease with an increase in the CS solution concentration and the coating time, which indicates that CS-coated PDMS scaffolds exhibit noticeable hydrophilicity compared with graded PDMS scaffold.

Keywords

polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) / graded porous scaffold / biomedical applications