MESOPOROUS SILICA ELECTROSPUN MEMBRANES FOR BONE TISSUE ENGINEERING APPLICATIONS

INCHAURRONDO, N.; CARACCIOLO, P.

Mar del Plata

Congreso; XII Latin-American Congress of Artificial Organs and Biomaterials; 2023

INTEMA

The preparation of mesoporous silica nanofibers by the coupling of the sol-gel/EISA (evaporation-induced self-assembly method) synthesis with the electrospinning process is rare in literature, since it is a challenging work which requires a sophisticated control over a wide number of parameters. Therefore, several conditions were tested in this work. The best results were displayed by a solution with the following molar ratio: EtOH : TEOS : P123 : PVP (15 : 1 : 0.012 : 2.75 x 10-5), processed at 50 % HR, flow rate of 1 mL/h, applied voltage of 14 kV and distance to collector of 15 cm. The obtained membrane presented a large BET surface area of 260 m2/g, displaying a hybrid isotherm between type I and type II and a H4 hysteresis loop, typical of slit-shaped pores. The sample showed a broad pore size distribution with meso (VMP of 0.1 cm3/g) and micro-pores (Vµp of 0.05 cm3/g). SEM images showed randomly arranged fibers in a nonwoven network, while TEM images exhibited fibers with disordered, worm-like mesoporous structure. In the absence of P123 membranes were less brittle. TEM images revealed smoother fibers with no observable mesoporous structure. These membranes showed a type I isotherm, with a higher surface area (400 m2/g) due to microporosity (Vµp of 0.13 cm3/g).