Novel, simple and reproducible method for preparation of composite hierarchal porous structure scaffolds

Demand to develop a simple and adaptable method for preparation the hierarchical porous scaffolds for bone tissue regeneration is ever increasing. This study presents a novel and reproducible method for preparing the scaffolds with pores structure spanning from nano, micro to macro scale. A macroporous Sr-Hardystonite (Sr-Ca2ZnSi2O7, Sr-HT) scaffold with the average pore size of similar to 1200 mu m and porosity of similar to 95% was prepared using polymer sponge method. The struts of the scaffold were coated with a viscous paste consisted of salt (NaCl) particles and polycaprolactone (PCL) to provide a layer with thickness of similar to 300-800 mu m. A hierarchical porous scaffold was obtained with macro, micro and nanopores in the range of 400-900 pm, 1-120 mu m and 40-290 nm, after salt leaching process. These scales could be easily adjusted based on the starting foam physical characteristics, salt particle size, viscosity of the paste and salt/PCL weight ratio. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.