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To improve the interaction between cells and scaffolds, the appropriate surface chemical property is very important for tissue engineering scaffolds. In this work, the dopamine (DA) was first introduced into thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) matrix to obtain TPU/DA nanofibers by electrospinning. Subsequently, the TPU@polydopamine (PDA) composite nanofibers with core/shell structure were fabricated by in situ polymerization of PDA. In comparison with TPU nanofibers, the uniformization of PDA coating layer on the surface of TPU/DA composite nanofibers significantly increased due to the addition of DA, which used as the active sites to guide the PDA particles accumulated along with the fiber direction. The hydrophilicity and water uptake ability of TPU@PDA composite nanofibers were larger than those of TPU nanofibers. The TPU@PDA composite nanofibers possess excellent comprehensive mechanical properties of high strength, stiffness, elasticity, and recoverability because of the hydrogen bonding occurrence between PDA and DA, as well as between PDA and TPU matrix. The attachment and viability of mouse embryonic osteoblasts cells (MC3T3‐E1) cultured on TPU@PDA composite nanofibers were obviously enhanced compared with TPU nanofibers. Those results suggested that the modified TPU@PDA composite nanofibers have superior mechanical and biological properties, which promoting them potentially useful for tissue engineering scaffolds.

A 3D porous poly(lactic acid) (PLA) scaffold with high porosity and well‐connected pores is fabricated using a vacuum‐assisted solvent casting technique. Its surface is modified with hydroxyapatite (HA) nanoparticles using ultrasonication to prepare an HA‐modified PLA/HA scaffold. For reference, an HA‐blended (b‐PLA‐HA) scaffold is fabricated via the solution blending method. The morphology, porosity, hydrophilicity, swelling ratio, mechanical properties, and cell viability of the PLA, b‐PLA‐HA, and PLA/HA scaffolds are systematically studied. The results show that HA nanoparticles are successfully introduced onto the surface of the PLA/HA scaffold, and strong interactions occur between the HA nanoparticles and the PLA matrix. The PLA/HA scaffold still has a high porosity of more than 85% after ultrasonication. The hydrophilicity and mechanical properties of the PLA/HA scaffold are significantly higher than those of the PLA and b‐PLA‐HA scaffolds. Compared with the PLA and b‐PLA‐HA scaffolds, the attachment and growth of mouse embryonic osteoblasts cells (MC3T3‐E1) cultured on the PLA/HA scaffold significantly improve, due to most HA nanoparticles on the surface, resulting in a good and direct interaction between the cells and the scaffold. Therefore, the PLA/HA scaffold possesses great potential to be used as a tissue engineering scaffold.

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