Bilayer Scaffolds of PLLA/PCL/CAB Ternary Blend Films and Curcumin-Incorporated PLGA Electrospun Nanofibers: The Effects of Polymer Compositions and Solvents on Morphology and Molecular Interactions.

Tissue engineering scaffolds have been dedicated to regenerating damaged tissue by serving as host biomaterials for cell adhesion, growth, differentiation, and proliferation to develop new tissue. In this work, the design and fabrication of a biodegradable bilayer scaffold consisting of a ternary PLLA/PCL/CAB blend film layer and a PLGA/curcumin (CC) electrospun fiber layer were studied and discussed in terms of surface morphology, tensile mechanical properties, and molecular interactions. Three different compositions of PLLA/PCL/CAB-60/15/25 (TBF1), 75/10/15 (TBF2), and 85/5/10 (TBF3)-were fabricated using the solvent casting method. The electrospun fibers of PLGA/CC were fabricated using chloroform (CF) and dimethylformamide (DMF) co-solvents in 50:50 and 60:40 volume ratios. Spherical patterns of varying sizes were observed on the surfaces of all blend films-TBF1 (17-21 µm) > TBF2 (5-9 µm) > TBF3 (1-5 µm)-caused by heterogeneous surfaces inducing bubble nucleation. The TBF1, TBF2, and TBF3 films showed tensile elongation at break values of approximately 170%, 94%, and 43%, respectively. The PLGA/CC electrospun fibers fabricated using 50:50 CF:DMF had diameters ranging from 100 to 400 nm, which were larger than those of the PLGA fibers (50-200 nm). In contrast, the PLGA/CC electrospun fibers fabricated using 60:40 CF:DMF had diameters mostly ranging from 200 to 700 nm, which were larger than those of PLGA fibers (200-500 nm). Molecular interactions via hydrogen bonding were observed between PLGA and CC. The surface morphology of the bilayer scaffold demonstrated adhesion between these two solid surfaces resembling "thread stitches" promoted by hydrophobic interactions, hydrogen bonding, and surface roughness.

Comparison of dehydration methods for untreated lignin resole by hot air oven and vacuum rotary evaporator to synthesize lignin-based phenolic foam.

We investigate two different dehydration methods to determine their suitability for preparing resoles for foam synthesis. A simplified process for synthesizing lignin foam (LF) from lignin resole (LR) dehydrated in a hot air oven (HAO) is compared with that dehydrated using a vacuum rotary evaporator (VRE). First, the LR formulation is prepared by mixing phenol with untreated lignin (0%-15% by weight), and subsequently, the prepared LRs are dehydrated using an HAO and a VRE. We find that for the same dehydration time, both techniques yield LRs with the same chemical compositions; however, the HAO technique affords a moisture removal of 13-17% by weight, whereas the VRE technique removes 9-12% moisture by weight. The LR obtained by the HAO is more viscous and maintains a circular shape after being dropped on a plate. In our experimental synthesis of LF containing VRE resole, biofoam is not formed owing to insufficient viscosity, whereas biofoam is obtained with the HAO resole. The synthesized LF exhibits a density range of 44.96-85.68 kg/m3 and a compressive strength of 103.28-152.27 kPa. Scanning electron microscopy investigations show that the morphology of the foam is a closed-cell structure. The simplified synthesis of LF from the HAO-treated resole offers significant advantages over the complexity of the conventional VRE approach in terms of equipment cost and energy consumption. The resulting foam exhibits a thermal stability and thermal performance comparable with the counterpart properties of phenolic foam.