Hybrid near and far field electrospinning of PVDF-TrFE/BaTiO₃ scaffolds: morphology and osteoblast-like cell responses

Scaffolds are of great interest in tissue engineering associated with regenerative medicine owing to their ability to mimic biological structures and provide support for new tissue formation. Several techniques are used to produce biological scaffolds; among them, far-field electrospinning (FFES) process is widely used due to its versatility in producing promising structures similar to native tissues owing to the electrospun nanofibers. On the other hand, near-field electrospinning (NFES) has been investigated due to the possibility of creating scaffolds with suitable architecture for their use in specific biological tissues. Thus, we investigated the potential of the electrospun scaffolds prepared using both techniques FFES and NFES, with tailored properties to mimic bone tissue native matrix and enhance the cell response. We produced scaffolds with the piezoelectric poly(vinylidene fluoride-trifluoroethylene) combined with BaTiO₃nanoparticles. Hence, the properties of both scaffolds were evaluated in terms of crystallinity and cell behavior, such as adhesion, proliferation and cell viability. Microstructure properties showed good thermal stability, similar crystallinity (∼65%) and a<i>β</i>-phase content of ∼40% for both scaffolds. For biological tests, MG-63 osteoblast-like cells were used, and for NFES scaffolds, we noted that the proliferation and cell alignment followed the fiber pattern and created a bridge between adjacent fibers. In contrast, cells spread and proliferated randomly on the surface of the FFES scaffold. Despite the differences in cell behavior, both scaffolds showed good biocompatibility in terms of functional scaffolds with suitable characteristics for use in the area of tissue regeneration.