Production and characterization of tissue engineering scaffolds based on polyhydroxybutyrate-co-hydroxyvalerate polymers

Abstract

In the engineering of various tissues, the scaffold material and architecture of the scaffold can affect cell seeding and tissue growth both in vitro and in vivo. This paper reports the production of three-dimensional, highly porous tissue engineering scaffolds based on Poly (hydroxybutyrate-cohydroxyvalerate) (PHBV) biopolymers. Polyhydroxybutyrateco- hydroxyvalerate (PHBV) is a biocompatible and biodegradable polymer that can be used in tissue engineering. Hydroxyapatite (HA) is osetoconductive and is being used for bone replacement. The composite scaffolds made of these two materials have great potential for bone tissue engineering. This paper reports the fabrication and characterization of threedimensional, highly porous HA/PHBV composite scaffolds. The scaffolds were produced using an emulsion freezing / freeze-drying technique. The structure and properties of composite scaffolds were investigated using various techniques.