Investigation of mechanical properties of porous composite scaffolds with tailorable degradation kinetics after in vitro degradation using digital image correlation

Tissue engineering combines artificial scaffolds and living cells in order to reconstruct damaged tissues and organs. The biodegradable scaffolds should maintain their mechanical properties during first stages of the regeneration. The aim of this study was to investigate the extent the degradation affects the mechanical stability of novel biodegradable composite scaffolds in relation to their composition. The scaffolds were made using fused deposition modeling. They were composed of ternary composites containing poly(ε‐caprolactone) (PCL), 5 wt% of tricalcium phosphate (TCP) and 5, 15, and 25 wt% of poly(lactide‐co‐glycolide) (PLGA). Scaffolds made of pristine PCL and binary composite PCL–TCP were tested as reference samples. The degradation experiment was carried out in simulated body fluid at 37°C for 12 weeks. Mechanical tests were carried out in a mechanical tester. Strain was measured using digital image correlation and crossbar displacement. Chemical composition had a significant effect on initial mechanical properties and their changes during degradation. The initial apparent Young's modulus of ternary composite scaffolds was two times higher than that of PCL–TCP. Higher PLGA concentration yielded faster decrease of the mechanical properties. At the end of the experiment, there were no significant differences of the modulus among all tested materials although degradation of the ternary composite scaffolds was significantly advanced. POLYM. COMPOS., 38:2402–2410, 2017. © 2015 Society of Plastics Engineers