| dc.description.abstract | The mechanical, thermal, morphological properties and in vitro degradation study of a 3D porous Pennisetum purpureum (PP)/polylactic acid (PLA) based scaffold were investigated. In this study, a novel scaffold containing P. purpureum and PLA was produced using of the
solvent casting and particulate leaching method. PLA composite with various P. purpureum
contents (10 wt%, 20 wt%, and 30 wt%) were prepared and subsequently characterised.
The morphologies, structures and thermal behaviours of the prepared composite scaffolds
were characterised using field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), Fourier
transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and thermogravimetric
analysis (TGA). The morphology was studied using FESEM; the scaffold possessed 70-200
μm-sized pores and had a greater porosity factor (99%) with a high level of
interconnectivity. The mechanical properties and in vitro degradation of the developed
porous scaffolds were further characterized. Compression tests were conducted to evaluate
the compressive strength and modulus of the scaffolds, according to ASTM F451-95. The
compression strength of the scaffolds was found to increase from 1.94 to 9.32 MPa, while
the compressive modulus increased from 1.73 to 5.25 MPa as the fillers’ content increased
from 0 wt% to 30 wt%. In this study, the synthesized composite scaffolds were immersed
in a PBS solution at 37 °C for 40 days. Interestingly, the degradation rate was reduced for
the PLA/PP20 scaffold, though insignificantly, this could be attributed to the improved
mechanical properties and stronger fibre-matrix interface. Microstructure changes after
degradation were observed using FESEM. The FESEM results indicated that a strong fibrematrix
interface was formed in the PLA/PP20 scaffold, which reflected the addition of P.
purpureum into PLA decreasing the degradation rate compared to in pure PLA scaffolds.
From the results, it can be concluded that the properties of the highly porous P.
purpureum/PLA scaffold developed in this study can be controlled and optimized. This can
be used to facilitate the construction of implantable tissue-engineered cartilage. | en_US |
