Polyester membranes as 3D scaffolds for cell culture

The study presents two types of three-dimensional membranes made of the biodegradable copolymer. They were obtained by the wet-phase inversion method using different solvent and pore precursors. In one case, a nonwoven made of gelatin and polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) as precursors of macropores and small pores, respectively, were used. In the second case, PVP nonwovens and Pluronic were used properly for macro- and micro-pores. As the material, a biodegradable poly(L-lactide-co-E-caprolactone) is composed of 30% E-caprolactone and 70% poly(L-lactic acid) was used. Depending on the pore precursors, different membrane structures were obtained. The morphology of pores was studied using the MeMoExplorerTm, an advanced software designed for computer analysis of the scanning electron microscopy images. The scaffolds were degraded in phosphatebuffered saline and Hank's balanced salt solutions at 37 degrees C. Moreover, the porosity of the membranes before and after hydrolysis was calculated.