Physicochemical characterization and mechanical performance analysis of biaxially oriented PLA/PCL tubular scaffolds for intended stent application

Abstract

Polylactic acid (PLA) and its blends are potential materials for bioresorbable vascular tubular scaffold (TS) manufacturing. The usual method for TS fabrication for intended stent application includes firstly extruding the polymeric tube and then subjected to post-processing operations for tailoring its mechanical properties. In this study, PLA/PCL blend TS was fabricated by using a novel and facile fabrication method, which eliminates the much-needed post-processing operation on the extruded TS. Two different ways were used to extrude the TS for a comparative study; (a) conventional Extrusion process (SE), and (b) novel single-step Biaxial Expansion during Extrusion (BAE). FTIR spectra were used to investigate the detailed physicochemical evaluation of the TS. Mechanical studies show BAE TS exhibits better mechanical performance as compared to SE TS. Also, BAE PLA/PCL blend TS containing 5 wt% PCL withstood higher burst pressure among the tested specimens. The water contact angle (CA) of BAE8% TS is observed to be 71° as compared to 81° for the SE0% TS. Further, BAE PLA/PCL TS scaffolds showed better cell viability by MTT assay as compared to pristine PLA.

The effect of alginate scaffolds on bone healing in defects formed with drilling model in rat femur diaphysis

“…Shifting of the bands indicated that there is non‐covalent interaction between TA, TBC, and alginate 33 . Interpenetrating polymer fibers can exert blend characteristics during in vivo and in vitro studies 34 …”

“…33 Interpenetrating polymer fibers can exert blend characteristics during in vivo and in vitro studies. 34 F I G U R E 1 Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and macroscopic photographs of Alg-nHA (A, B), Alg-TA-nHA (C, D) and Alg-TBC-nHA (E, F) scaffolds.…”

Fabrication and characterization of PLLA/PCL/Mg‐Zn‐Y alloy composite stent

“…These BAE tubes were stored at −20°C, which was further used for fabricating cardiovascular stents. Detailed comparison studies on both the BAE tube materials already been performed for cardiovascular stent application 22,24,25 …”

“…Detailed comparison studies on both the BAE tube materials already been performed for cardiovascular stent application. 22,24,25…”

Investigating the hydrolytic degradation of PLA/PCL/ZnO nanocomposites by using viscoelastic models

“…[23][24][25] Blending the PLA and PCL provides an amalgamation of these preferred properties, provoking their blend to be suitable for diverse applications such as packaging, tissue engineering, and cardiovascular applications. [26][27][28][29] Also, investigating the performance of PLA/PCL blend in the presence of various nanoparticles and its influence on the microstructure as the third component has been recently in the center of attention of researchers. [30][31][32] For example, Zhu et al [33] studied montmorillonite (MMT) nanoparticles role on the interfacial interactions in the PCL/PLA blend.…”