| As preliminary work towards the generation of new tissue engineering scaffolds, porous polyester thermoset xerogels have been produced via organic sol-gel chemistry. Different recipes have been formulated to tune their porosity, pore size, homogeneity and mechanical properties, according to the end application. Cytocompatibility studies indicate that pore size and materials chemistry both impact degree of colonization, with large pore structures allowing for the growth of mammalian cells. In addition to the immediate utility of having a flexible means of preparing tissue engineering scaffolds, the sol-gel systems developed here can serve as the basis for the replication of the structures of natural porous bodies through the application of replica molding. |
