Abstract

Tissue engineering strategies comprise designing and adapting biomaterials to the physiological requirements of the injured organ or tissue. In some scenarios, biodegradation of the material is necessary to avoid additional surgeries in order to remove remnants of the scaffold. With this objective, we fabricated porous films made with different proportions of polycaprolactone (PCL) blended with polybutylene succinate (PBSucc) and ultra-thin collagen membranes crosslinked with genipin. Fabrication parameters were varied in order to study and propose the best material combinations that will improve the regenerative performance of the films and membranes. In such samples, degradability in physiological conditions was studied and characterized. Spectroscopic, thermal, atomic force (AFM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analyses were additionally carried out. In conclusion, it was proved that both biomaterials analyzed in this investigation were biodegradable, maintaining stability over 40 days in natural ultra-thin membranes and 23 weeks in the synthetic films. These biomimetic matrices offer the possibility of a personalized strategy, appropriate for the regeneration of various types of injured tissues.