Preparation and properties of poly(ε-caprolactone)/bioactive glass nanofibre membranes for skin tissue engineering

Poly(ε-caprolactone) composite nanofibres for skin tissue engineering and regeneration applications were prepared via electrospinning of poly(ε-caprolactone) nanofibres with bioactive glass nanoparticles at bioactive glass contents of 0, 2, 4, 6 and 8 wt%. The surface properties, water absorptivities, porosities, mechanical properties and biocompatibilities of the composite electrospun nanofibres were characterised in detail. Addition of bioactive glass improved the hydrophilicity and elastic modulus of membranes. The fibre diameter of the neat poly(ε-caprolactone) nanofibres was only 700 nm, but reinforcement with 2, 4, 6 and 8 wt% bioactive glass nanofibres increased the diameter to 1000, 1100, 900 and 800 nm, respectively. The minimum elongation at break of the bioactive glass–reinforced poly(ε-caprolactone) exceeded 100%, which indicated that the composite nanofibres had good mechanical properties. The porosities of the various nanofibres containing different mass loadings of bioactive glass all exceeded 90%. The best performance in terms of cell proliferation and adhesion was found when the bioactive glass mass percent reached 6 wt%. However, higher loadings were unfavourable for cell growth. These preliminary results indicate that poly(ε-caprolactone)/bioactive glass composite nanofibres have promise for skin tissue engineering applications.