Incorporation of multi-walled carbon nanotubes into electrospun PCL/gelatin scaffold: the influence on the physical, chemical and thermal properties and cell response for tissue engineering

Abstract

In this study the poly (e-caprolactone) (PCL)/gelatin nanofibrous scaffolds were fabricated through electrospinning by varying the weight ratio of PCL and gelatin concentrations (90:10, 80:20, 70:30, 60:40 and 50:50 (w/w)). The PCL-gelatin (70:30)/0.5 wt. multi-walled carbon nanotubes electrospun nanocomposite scaffold was fabricated. Physical, chemical, mechanical properties and cell response of the scaffolds were evaluated through SEM, FTIR-ATR, TGA/DTG analysis, water contact angle, tensile strength and cell viability. The PCGC had the best average and distribution of fibres diameter in comparison with the scaffold without MWNTs. The presence of MWNTs did not have any adverse effect on the porosity and cell behaviour. Adding 0.5 wt. MWNTs to the PCG 70:30 scaffold decreased contact angle from 75.69 degrees to 29.32 degrees significantly, and increased thermal stability and the mean tensile strength in comparison with the control sample. The PCL-gelatin/0.5 wt. MWNTs can be an appropriate scaffold for supplemental studies of tissue engineering applications.