Characterization of highly interconnected porous poly(lactic acid) and chitosan-coated poly(lactic acid) scaffold fabricated by vacuum-assisted resin transfer molding and particle leaching

Polylactic acid (PLA) scaffolds were prepared using vacuum-assisted resin transfer molding (VARTM), phase separation, solvent extraction, and particle leaching approaches. A chitosan (CS)-coated PLA scaffold was then fabricated using CS coating treatment. To control the pore morphology and porosity, different processing parameters, such as NaCl particle size and PLA solution concentrations were studied. The properties of porous PLA and CS-coated PLA scaffold, including the microstructure, porosity, water absorption, hydrophilicity, compression modulus, and compression strength were investigated. The results showed that PLA and CS-coated PLA scaffold with porosities as high as 94 %, water absorption up to 1200 %, and compressive modulus ranging from 241 to 442 kPa were produced. The pore morphology on the surface and within the scaffold showed the presence of multiple open pores with excellent interconnectivity. Additionally, the CS-coated PLA scaffold showed significantly improved hydrophilicity and mechanical properties compared to the untreated PLA scaffold. Hence, the CS-coated PLA scaffold was expected to exhibit a better biocompatibility than PLA scaffold because of the enhancement of the hydrophilicity.