Natalie Wöltinger

Bachelor student

Fabrication and characterization of biopolymer scaffolds for tendon tissue engineering

 

Supervisors:  Francesco Iorio, Prof. Aldo R. Boccaccini

This study will focus on the development of fibrous biopolymer scaffolds based on PCL [1], which are fabricated by the electrospinning technique employing benign solvents, for tendon tissue engineering. The randomly-oriented or aligned organized fiber mats will be characterized morphologically, chemically, and mechanically. In a second step cellulose nanofibers (CNF) will be added in the fabrication process and the resulting scaffolds will be characterized again to come closer to the requirements of tendon tissue engineering [2].

[1] Vogt L. et al., Poly(ε-caprolactone)/poly(glycerol sebacate) electrospun scaffolds for cardiac tissue engineering using benign solvents. Mater Sci Eng C. 103:109712; 2019.

[2] Sensini & Cristofolini, Biofabrication of Electrospun Scaffolds for the Regeneration of Tendons and Ligaments. Materials (Basel). 11(10):1963; 2018.