Synthesis and characterization of cellulose nanowhisker-reinforced-poly(ε-caprolactone) scaffold for tissue-engineering applications

Poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL) is a bioresorbable and biocompatible polymer with assorted medical applications. However, remarkable hydrophobicity and nonosteoconductivity have stood as a barrier to limit its applications. The present study aims to modify the bulk characteristics of PCL to develop a polymeric scaffold with adequate structural and mechanical properties to support regenerated tissues. For this purpose, functionalized bacterial cellulose nanowhiskers (BCNW-g-βCD-PCL₂₀₀₀) are synthesized. Reinforcing PCL matrix with 4 wt % of the nanowhiskers resulted in a bionanocomposite with promoted bulk properties. Compared to neat PCL, the obtained bionanocomposite shows improvements of 115 and 51% in tensile strength and Young's modulus, respectively; 20% increase in hydrophilicity; 7% increase in degradation rate; and 6% decrease in crystallinity. Gas foaming/combined particulate leaching technique is used to develop highly porous structures of 86–95% porosity with interconnected macropores of mean pore diameters of 250–420 μm. Porous scaffolds showed compression modulus values of 5.3–9.1 MPa and would have promising applications in regenerative medicine. © 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2020 , 137, 48481.