Abstract:

BACKGROUND: A scaffold for tissue engineering with high water content and proper swelling ratio can be fabricated using polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) and calcium alginate (CaAlg) at different relative molecular mass and alcoholysis. The porous structure shows potential in cell culture of tissue engineering scaffolds.
OBJECTIVE: To produce the thin film, particles and sponge of PVA-CaAlg composite material by different molding methods, to investigate the feasibility of serving as a scaffold for tissue engineering, and to find out the most ideal proportion according to the property.
METHODS: Scaffolds of PVA-CaAlg was fabricated by blending PVA with various amounts of sodium alginate. Water content and swelling ratio of the composite scaffold were tested. Scanning electron microscopy was used to observe the configuration of the cross-section.
RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: Different proportional scaffolds could be obtained with different PVA molecular weight, alcoholysis degree and different sodium alginate dosage. They exhibited high water content, between 48%-93% and swelling ratio between 120%-470%. Scanning electron microscopy proved that inner tissue of the composite material had porous structure. When the weight average molecular weight of PVA was 24 000 and 61 500, the formed porous morphology was the best. Using small amount of sodium alginate, the pore structure and morphology of composite scaffold thin film formed better, the best structure and morphology can be achieved at m (PVA) : m (sodium alginate) = 3 : 1; using large amount of sodium alginate, the pore structure and morphology of composite scaffold sponge formed better, the best structure and morphology can be achieved at m (PVA) : m (sodium alginate) = 1 : 4, m (PVA) : m (sodium alginate) = 1 : 6. The material is fluffy and porous, with regular structure and uniform pore size distribution, thus meeting the requirement of tissue engineering porous scaffolds.