Electrospun fibers of poly(butylene succinate-co-dilinoleic succinate) and its blend with poly(glycerol sebacate) for soft tissue engineering applications

A new copolymer poly(butylene succinate-dilinoleic succinate) (PBS-DLS) has been successfully synthesized and its suitability for the fabrication of electrospun fiber mats has been investigated for the obtaining both electrospun scaffolds of neat PBS-DLS and also in blend with poly(glycerol sebacate) (PGS). After optimizing the electrospinning process for both neat and PGS/PBS-DLS (ratio 1:2) blend materials, homogeneous fiber mats have been obtained with an average fiber diameter of 2.5 +/- 0.5 mu m and 2.0 +/- 0.2 mu m, for neat and blend mats, respectively. Mechanical properties and degradation behavior in PBS were investigated to evaluate their suitability for soft tissue engineering applications. A feasibility study of the obtained electrospun mats functionalization was performed and positive results were obtained, demonstrating the versatility and suitability of PGS/PBS-DLS electrospun fibers as candidate for soft tissue engineering applications. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.