Chitosan/MWCNT composites prepared by thermal induced phase separation

The development of porous materials for the sustained three-dimensional (3D) growth of cells is of particular Interest in regenerative medicine and tissue engineering because they can be potentially tailored to mimic the natural extracellular matrix (ECM) in terms of the structure, chemical composition, and mechanical properties These materials, called scaffolds, require high interconnected porosity in order to allow the vascularization process In this work the preparation of Chitosan, a natural biocompatible polymer was used as scaffold and prepared by thermal induced phase separation (TIPS). In order to acquire appropriate characteristics, the influence of several parameters as polymer concentration, quenching temperature and the incorporation of different concentration of multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNT) were investigated. It was found that the mechanical properties of the scaffolds can be tuned by the addition of small amount of MWCNT. (C) 2009 Elsevier B V All rights reserved