Porous poly(l-lactic acid) nanocomposite scaffolds prepared by phase inversion using supercritical CO2 as antisolvent

Abstract

Nanohybrids were fabricated from a poly(l-lactic acid) solution loaded with various concentrations of organically modified montmorillonite. Investigation of the produced composites' morphology by X-ray diffraction analysis, transmission electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy revealed a coexistence of intercalated and exfoliated clay particles, with the latter ones being predominant for low filler loadings. Porous scaffolds of pure and nanocomposite poly(l-lactic acid) were prepared using supercritical CO2 as antisolvent and the influence of montmorillonite content was examined. It was observed that the final cellular structure was strongly related to the filler content.