Hybrid scaffold comprising of nanofibers and extrusion printed PCL for tissue engineering

In this research article, we developed a composite bilayer scaffold comprising of 3D printed layer and nanofibrous layer for tissue regeneration. The fabricated scaffold had distinct variation in fiber and pore diameter. It constituted of dual-pore structure where 3D printed lattice had pore diameter of ∼ 200 µm and nanofibrous layer had pore diameter of ∼ 20.59 µm. Additionally, strut diameter of 3D printed layer was ∼ 240 µm and fiber diameter of nanofibrous layer was ∼ 1.62 µm additing to structural divergence. The layers of scaffold also varied in composition characteristics with 3D printed layer fabricated with PCL and nanofibrous layer with PCL and chitosan. The architectural and compositional attributes bestowed the scaffold with moderate hydrophobicity with water contact angle of 64.4 ° for nanofibrous layer and 92.2 ° for 3D printed layer. Further, tensile strength of scaffold was 6.12 ± 1.26 MPa with high water uptake capacity of ∼ 95%. These parameters assisted in fibroblast cell adhesion, migration and growth from initial days of seeding on both surfaces of scaffold. As the culture period enhanced, cell coverage increased and eventually the scaffold surface was covered with thick cellular sheath. Further, the scaffold was non-cytotoxic and promoted cellular proliferation. Thus, it can be ascertained that the developed composite bilayer scaffold has potentiality for application in tissue engineering.