Thermal Stability and Surface Wettability Studies of Polylactic Acid/Halloysite Nanotube Nanocomposite Scaffold for Tissue Engineering Studies

This paper reports the preliminary study about the incorporation of halloysite nanotubes (HNT) into polylactic acid (PLA) scaffold to improve the thermal resistance and surface wettability properties. The fabrication of the porous scaffold requires a simple yet effective technique with low-cost materials within freeze extraction method. The thermal stability of PLA/HNT scaffold compared to neat PLA scaffold achieved with increased content of HNT by 5 wt%. Moreover, the surface wettability of the scaffold also shows a positive impact with high content of HNT by 5 wt%. This new nanocomposite scaffold may have high potential as a suitable template for tissue regeneration.