Dose-dependent effects of gamma irradiation on the materials properties and cell proliferation of electrospun polycaprolactone tissue engineering scaffolds

Abstract

Electrospun membranes of polycaprolactone are widely used for biomedical applications like wound dressings and tissue engineering scaffolds. It is important to sterilize this material using the most accepted method, the gamma irradiation. In this study, we have evaluated the sterilizability of electrospun polycaprolactone membranes with gamma radiation of varying doses. The irradiated materials were assessed for the changes in morphology, crystallinity, surface degradation, hydrophilicity, mechanical property, sterility and the cell proliferation. Our results demonstrate that electrospun polycaprolactone can be effectively sterilized by gamma irradiation, however a higher dose of radiation affect the materials properties. The irradiated membranes showed improved hydrophilicity and fibroblast cell proliferation.