Development of new scaffolds for bone substitution by electrospinning and laser ablation

The present study aims to develop and investigate the biological response of a bone substitute based on electrospun polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) fibres, which are either embedded or coated with a silicate bioglass belonging to SiO 2 –P 2 O 5 –CaO–Na 2 O oxide system. This bioglass is substituted with antibacterial agents, silver (Ag) and cerium (Ce), while deposition methods utilized include pulsed laser deposition (PLD) and matrix-assisted pulsed laser evaporation (MAPLE). The results showed the inhomogeneous distribution of the glassy particulate phase in the polymer fibres when using electrospinning as single processing technique. In contrast, the materials achieved by combining the electrospinning with laser ablation displayed a continuous coating of glass at the polymer fibres surface. The thickness and roughness of this layer can be easily tuned as a function of deposition conditions, as it was demonstrated when changing the dispersion medium or working pressure. Good results were obtained for all coated PVDF fibres, but especially in the case of PLD processing with a thicker layer of silicate glass, the imaging evaluation suggested a superior beneficial impact on cellular metabolism. Such scaffolds, with controlled porosity, engineered surface and potential piezoelectric properties represent important candidates for the field of personalized bone substitutes.