Non-covalently crosslinked chitosan nanofibrous mats prepared by electrospinning as substrates for soft tissue regeneration.

Chitosan (CS) membranes obtained by electrospinning are potentially ideal substrates for soft tissue engineering as they combine the excellent biological properties of CS with the extracellular matrix (ECM)-like structure of nanofibrous mats. However, the high amount of acid solvents required to spun CS solutions interferes with the biocompatibility of CS fibres. To overcome this limitation, novel CS based solutions were investigated in this work.

Polyurethane-based scaffolds for myocardial tissue engineering.

Bi-layered scaffolds with a 0°/90° lay-down pattern were prepared by melt-extrusion additive manufacturing (AM) using a poly(ester urethane) (PU) synthesized from poly(ε-caprolactone) diol, 1,4-butandiisocyanate and l-lysine ethyl ester dihydrochloride chain extender. Rheological analysis and differential scanning calorimetry of the starting material showed that compression moulded PU films were in the molten state at a higher temperature than 155°C. The AM processing temperature was set at 155°C after verifying the absence of PU thermal degradation phenomena by isothermal thermogravimetry analysis and rheological characterization performed at 165°C.