Improving pore size of electrospun gelatin scaffolds containing graphene oxide using PEG as a sacrificial agent for bone tissue engineering

Abstract

In this study, polyethylene glycol (PEG), as a sacrificial agent, and gelatin containing graphene oxide (GO) are co-electrospun to prepare scaffolds. Based on pore size measurements, removal of PEG leads to an increase in the pore size of modified scaffolds, resulting in easier infiltration. Moreover, noticeable elastic modulus of GO increased the mechanical strength. Alizarin red staining indicated proliferation and differentiation of human bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells seeded on the modified scaffolds. Thus, gelatin scaffold containing 0.5% GO with 20% PEG at the ratio of 80:20 for gelatin–PEG was selected as the optimal scaffold for bone tissue engineering approaches.

Graphical Abstract

Keywords:

• Bone tissue engineering
• electrospinning
• gelatin
• graphene oxide
• osteogenesis
• polyethylene glycol
• sacrificial fibers
• scaffold