Effects of heat-treatment on surface morphologies, mechanical properties of nanofibrous poly(propylene carbonate) biocomposites and its cell culture

We report controlled surface morphologies, mechanical properties and cell culture of biomimetic pure poly(propylene carbonate) (PPC) and PPC/poly(lactic acid) (PLA) composite nanofibers prepared by sol-gel electrospinning. Pure PPC nanofibers exhibited soft rubber-like features with lower mechanical properties (elastic modulus ~59.7 MPa, tensile strength ~6.2 MPa), while the mechanical properties of as-spun PPC nanofibers were dramatically improved after heat-treatments at 60 °C. Furthermore, the PPC/PLA composite nanofibers exhibited topographically peculiar morphologies (in particular, an embossing-like surface protrusions), probably due to poor miscibility between PPC and PLA. CCK-8 assay results of cultured myoblasts clarified that pure PPC and PPC/PLA composite nanofibers were nontoxic to the cells, which therefore, suggest them to be used in biomedical applications as a scaffold for tissue engineering.