Surface modification of poly(l-lactide) electrospun fibers with nanocrystal hydroxyapatite for engineered scaffold applications

The hydrophobicity of the poly(l-lactide) (PLLA) surface was modified by incorporating hydroxyapatite (HAp) nanocrystalline particles during the electrospinning process for the engineered scaffold applications. The HAp nanocrystals were synthesized with 30 nm in diameter and 100–120 nm in length, which subsequently formed micrometer-sized agglomerates in the range of 2.5 μm. The synthesized HAp agglomerates were electrospun in the PLLA solution, and the HAp nanocrystals were desirably exposed on the surface of the electrospun PLLA fibers to give higher surface energy and lower contact angles with water. The surface-exposed hydrophilic HAp nanocrystals substantially increased the precipitation of various salts on the HAp/PLLA fiber surfaces in a buffer solution due to the hydrophilic nature and ionic affinity of HAp. Finally, the developed HAp/PLLA fibers desirably sustained the fibrous structural integrity during the accelerated-aging test in water, which was not the case with the pristine PLLA fibers.