Fabrication of Gelatin Scaffolds Using Thermally Induced Phase Separation Technique

Abstract

Gelatin is considered as a partially degraded product of collagen and it is a biodegradable polymer which can be used to produce scaffolds for tissue engineering. Three-dimensional, porous gelatin scaffolds were fabricated by thermally induced phase separation and freeze-drying method. Their porous structure and pore size were characterized by scanning electron microscopy. Scaffolds with different pore sizes were obtained by adjusting the concentration of the gelatin. Scaffolds with 3.75% (w/v) gelatin and 5% (w/v) gelatin produced pore range of 100 to 450µm. The average pore size increased with the increase in gelatin concentration. Meanwhile, the properties of the scaffolds in terms of water uptake were studied. The results showed that when the concentration of the gelatin solution was changed from 3.75% to 5%, the water adsorption of the formed scaffolds decreased by 104%. The concentration of gelatin increase caused a reduction in water uptake.