Gelatin Enhances the Wet Mechanical Properties of Poly(D,L-Lactic Acid) Membranes

• Published in: International journal of molecular sciences Vol. 25; no. 9; p. 5022
• Main Author: Lee, Deuk Yong
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 01.05.2024
• Subjects: absorbable periodontal bone regeneration; Acids; Biocompatibility; Biocompatible Materials - chemistry; Collagen; Contact angle; Drug delivery systems; electrospinning; Fourier transforms; gelatin; Gelatin - chemistry; Humans; Lactic acid; Materials Testing; Mechanical properties; Membranes; Membranes, Artificial; Physical properties; poly(D,L-lactic acid) (PDLLA); Polyesters - chemistry; Polymers; Solvents; Stress, Mechanical; Tensile strength; Tissue Engineering - methods; Viscosity; Water - chemistry; wet mechanical properties; South Korea; poly(D,L-lactic acid) (PDLLA); absorbable periodontal bone regeneration; biocompatibility; electrospinning; gelatin; wet mechanical properties
• ISSN: 1422-0067; 1661-6596; 1422-0067
• DOI: 10.3390/ijms25095022

Biodegradable (BP) poly(D,L-lactic acid) (PDLLA) membranes are widely used in tissue engineering. Here, we investigate the effects of varying concentrations of PDLLA/gelatin membranes electrospun in 1,1,1,3,3,3-hexafluoro-2-propanol (HFIP; C H F O) solvent on their mechanical and physical properties as well as their biocompatibility. Regardless of the environmental conditions, increasing the gelatin content resulted in elevated stress and reduced strain at membrane failure. There was a remarkable difference in strain-to-failure between dry and wet PDLLA/gelatin membranes, with wet strains consistently higher than those of the dry membranes because of the hydrophilic nature of gelatin. A similar wet strain (ε = 2.7-3.0) was observed in PDLLA/gelatin membranes with a gelatin content between 10 and 40%. Both dry and wet stresses increased with increasing gelatin content. The dry stress on PDLLA/gelatin membranes (σ = 6.7-9.7 MPa) consistently exceeded the wet stress (σ = 4.5-8.6 MPa). The water uptake capacity (WUC) improved, increasing from 57% to 624% with the addition of 40% gelatin to PDLLA. PDLLA/gelatin hybrid membranes containing 10 to 20 wt% gelatin exhibited favorable wet mechanical properties (σ = 5.4-6.3 MPa; ε = 2.9-3.0); WUC (337-571%), degradability (11.4-20.2%), and excellent biocompatibility.