DEVELOPMENT OF POLY (LACTIC-CO-GLYCOLIC ACID)/ BIOGLASS FIBERS USING AN ELECTROSPINNING TECHNIQUE

Abstract

This work establishes experimental conditions for the synthesis of polymeric fibers using the electrospinning technique, modifying some operational parameters such as drum collector rotation speed and applied voltage were modified. The samples were obtained from a copolymer of poly(lacticco-glycolic acid) (PLGA), with a molecular weight of approximately 220,000 g/mol, dissolved in a dimethyl sulfoxide/dichloromethane (3:1 v/v) solution. With the aim of developing scaffolds for bone tissue engineering, we added a calcium phosphate glass based on 44.5CaO-44.5P2O5-11Na2O to the fibrous PLGA structures. The preliminary characterization of these PLGA structures with and without the addition of biodegradable glass was performed using SEM analysis. We found the formation of aligned and homogeneous fibers with an average diameter of 5.2 ± 2.1 µm when using the 800 rpm - 8cm - 9 kV parameters. In addition, the incorporation of 1 wt.% of previously silanized calcium phosphate particles substantially altered the fiber morphology and porosity. However, a substantial increase in the bioactivity of the composite was observed in contrast with the unmodified PLGA.