Effect of Blend Compositions on Physical and Physico-chemistry of Solvent-cast Polycaprolactone/Poly(3-hydroxybutyrate- co-3-hydroxyvalerate) Blend Films

摘要

Tissue engineering has been extensively studied in the past few decades. Incorporation of cultured cells with polymer scaffolds can be used as biological substitutes for tissue implantations. The protein adsorption on the polymer surface is a crucial point for the attachment of the cell. Some aliphatic polyesters such as polycaprolactone (PCL) and poly(3-hydroxybutyric acid-co-3-hydroxyvalerate) (PHBV) have suitable properties and characteristics for usage in medical applications. As both the micro- and the macro-structure of a blend of two polymers are affected by the blend compositions as well as by the fabrication method, we wish to investigate in more detail for the effect of the blend composition on the physical and the physico-chemical properties of the solvent-cast PCL/PHBV films. Such variation in these physical and physico-chemical characteristics may lead to different adsorption behavior of proteins, which, in turn, could lead to different response of the cultured cells.