Salt leaching methods

The cylindrical porous scaffolds based on TMC-DLLA copolymers were prepared by salt-leaching method. Two-ply porous nerve guides were prepared by a combination of dip-coating (inner layer) and fiber-winding (outer layer) techniques. 

The most widespread methods to manufacture the PHB scaffolds for tissue engineering by means of improvement of cell adhesion and growth on polymer surface are change of PHB surface properties and microstructure by salt-leaching methods and enzymatic/chemical/physical treatment of polymer surface [40, 89, 98, 113]. Adhesion to polymer substrates is one of the key issues in tissue engineering because adhesive interactions control cell physiology. One of the most effective techniques to improve adhesion and growth of cells on PHB films is the treatment of polymer surface with enzymes, alkali, or low-pressure plasma [40, 113]. Lipase treatment increases the viable cell number on the PHB film from 100 to 200 times compared to the untreated PHB film. NaOH treatment on PHB... 

Yoon, J. J., Song, S. H., Lee, D. S., Park, T. G. Immohilization of cell adhesive RGD peptide onto the surface of highly porous biodegradable polymer scaffolds fabricated by a gas foaming/salt leaching method. Biomaterials. 2004, 25, 5613-5620. 

We have to mention that fibroin scaffolds formed by freeze-diying of fibroin solutions pretreated with alcohols exhibit compression moduli of 10-100 kPa, whereas the salt leaching method generates scaffolds with a modulus of 0.5 MPa [137]. The largest compressive modulus and compressive strength reported so far... 

Yoon JJ, Kim JH, Park TG. Dexamethasone-releasing biodegradable polymer scaffolds fabricated by a gas-foaming/salt-leaching method. Biomaterials 2003 24 2323-9. 

Fig.7. SEM image of morphology of pure PLDL (PNC) scaffold obtained using salt leaching method...

The PLGA disks were then foamed using the gas foaming/ salt leaching method (24, 26). The polymer was saturated with caihon dioxide (CO2) at 5.17 MPa (750 psi) for 24 hours inside a pressure chamber. During this process, the gas enters the polymer matrix in the pressurized system. After gas saturation, the pressure was quickly released to create a thermodynamic instability. This is necessary for cell nucleation in the polymer as the gas in the polymer matrix diffuses within the material. 

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