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Lookup NU author(s): Professor Geoff Gibson
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND).
© 2017 Elsevier B.V. The mechanical, thermal, and morphological properties of a 3D porous Pennisetum purpureum (PP)/polylactic acid (PLA) based scaffold were investigated. In this study, a scaffold containing P. purpureum and PLA was produced using the solvent casting and particulate leaching method. P. purpureum fibre, also locally known as Napier grass, is composed of 46% cellulose, 34% hemicellulose, and 20% lignin. PLA composites with various P. purpureum contents (10%, 20%, and 30%) were prepared and subsequently characterised. The morphologies, structures and thermal behaviours of the prepared composite scaffolds were characterised using field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The morphology was studied using FESEM; the scaffold possessed 70–200 μm-sized pores with a high level of interconnectivity. The moisture content and mechanical properties of the developed porous scaffolds were further characterised. The P. purpureum/PLA scaffold had a greater porosity factor (99%) and compression modulus (5.25 MPa) than those of the pure PLA scaffold (1.73 MPa). From the results, it can be concluded that the properties of the highly porous P. purpureum/PLA scaffold developed in this study can be controlled and optimised. This can be used to facilitate the construction of implantable tissue-engineered cartilage.
Author(s): Revati R, Abdul Majid MS, Ridzuan MJM, Normahira M, Mohd Nasir NF, Rahman Y MN, Gibson AG
Publication type: Article
Publication status: Published
Journal: Materials Science and Engineering C
Year: 2017
Volume: 75
Pages: 752-759
Print publication date: 01/06/2017
Online publication date: 27/02/2017
Acceptance date: 24/02/2017
Date deposited: 23/05/2017
ISSN (print): 0928-4931
ISSN (electronic): 1873-0191
Publisher: Elsevier BV
URL: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.msec.2017.02.127
DOI: 10.1016/j.msec.2017.02.127
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