Synergistic effect of type and concentration of surfactant and diluting solvent on the morphology of emulsion templated matrices developed as tissue engineering scaffolds

Emulsion templating is an advantageous route for the fabrication of tissue engineering scaffolds. Emulsions are mostly stabilised using surfactants, and the performances of the surfactants depend on various parameters such as emulsification temperature and the presence of the electrolytes. In this study, we suggest that diluting solvent type also has a dramatic impact on the efficiency of the surfactant and morphology of the polymerised emulsions. For this, morphologies of polycaprolactone methacrylate-based polymerised emulsions, which are designed for tissue engineering applications and in vitro biocompatibilities, were shown by our group, prepared using four different surfactants, and three different solvents were investigated. Results showed that the diluting solvent used in the emulsion composition has a strong impact on the performance of the surfactant and consequently on the morphology of polymerised emulsions. Increasing surfactant concentration and diluting solvent volume have an opposite impact on the characteristics of emulsions. Scaffolds with average pore sizes changing from 10 to 78 μm could be fabricated. Establishing these relations enables us to have control over the overall morphology of polymerised emulsions and precisely engineer them for specific tissue engineering applications by tuning solvent and surfactant type and concentration.