Physical Characterisation of Electrospun PVDF/PVA Nanofibre Membrane as a Potential Artificial Soft Tissue Scaffold Application

The application of nanofibrous scaffold in tissue engineering has great potential in solving the drawbacks of conventional tissue/organ transplant procedures. This present work aims to evaluate the effect of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) inclusion on the physical properties of polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) nanofibrous membrane fabricated via the electrospinning method and its potential as an artificial tissue scaffold. The physical performance of electrospun PVDF/PVA samples was assessed by field emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM), tensile strength, water contact angle (WCA), degree of swelling, conductivity level, and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. Based on the physical characterisations, sample 90PVDF/10PVA with the PVDF-to-PVA ratio of 90:10 was the optimum composition, where the electrospun samples exhibit the most balanced properties that meet the requirement for artificial soft tissue replacement. In vitro studies using human dermal fibroblast (HDF) cells show that the PVDF/PVA nanofibrous scaffold successfully enhanced the adhesion and proliferation of cells compared to the neat PVDF scaffold as indicated by the MTT assay and Live/Dead kit. Overall results show the potential of PVDF/PVA nanofibrous membrane as a promising material suitable for soft tissue engineering applications.