Processing and properties of hydrophilic electrospun polylactic acid/beta-tricalcium phosphate membrane for dental applications

Typical electrospun polylactic acid (PLA) membranes revealing potential hydrophobicity and inflammation from acid release during degradation are major drawbacks as an ideal guided tissue regeneration (GTR) barrier. This study investigated the in vitro degradation properties of electrospun PLA/beta-tricalcium phosphate (-TCP) membranes treated by polyethylene oxide dip-coating process. After surface modification, the membranes revealed good wettability in contact angle measurement. The addition of -TCP can render good pH buffering properties for electrospun PLA membranes during the in vitro degradation test. The mechanical properties of the hybrid membrane showed no significant difference in suture pullout force at a dried or wetted state. For cell adhesion and proliferation, the membranes with hydrophilicity can enhance the cell attachment at early stage. Overall, these results show that electrospinning combined with dip coating is a feasible processing technology for producing hydrophilic fibrous GTR membranes. POLYM. ENG. SCI., 2013. (c) 2012 Society of Plastics Engineers.