Table 3.
Materials, techniques and applications of porous 3D TE scaffolds.
| Scaffold material | Application | Technique | Electrospinning as a possible alternative Technique |
|---|---|---|---|
| Polymers | |||
| Porous biodegradable poly (dl-lactide-co-glycolide) (PLGA) copolymers | Tissue regeneration or reconstruction | Emulsion freeze-drying [22] | Yes |
| Porous poly(l-lactic acid) (PLLA), PLGA, chitosan and alginate | Skin tissue scaffolding using ROS 17/2.8 osteoblast-like cells (rat osteosarcoma) | Freeze-extraction and freeze-gelation [54] | Yes |
| Porous polyethylene glycol terephthalate/polybutylene terephthalate (PEGT/PBT) | Scaffold for cartilage TE applications using chondrocytes | Compression molding and particle leaching [55] | Yes |
| Poly(ethylene oxide) and poly(ethyleneglycol)dimethacrylate photopolymerizable hydrogels | Scaffolds for soft tissues in terms of elasticity | Stereolithography [50] | Yes |
| Polycaprolactone | Bone scaffolds for bone morphogenetic protein-7 (BMP-7)-transduced fibroblasts | Selective laser sintering [56] | Yes |
| Chitosan | Electrobiological | Electrochemical process [57] | Yes |
| DNA ‘square-U’-based structure | Single-strand DNA origami for biological nanoelectronics | Polymerase chain reaction [9] | Yes |
| Biodegradable polyurethane (PU) | Skin tissue scaffolding using human fetal foreskin fibroblast cells | Melt electrospinning [58] | – |
| Ceramics | |||
| Porous hydroxyapatite (HAp) | Load-bearing bone scaffold | Combination of gel casting and polymer sponge [59] | No |
| Biomorphic silicon carbide ceramics, uncoated or coated with bioactive glass | Bone implants, e.g. load-bearing prostheses using MG-63 human osteoblast-like cells | Biotemplating [60] | No |
| High-strength HAp | Load-bearing bone scaffold | Solid-state reaction [5] | No |
| Bioactive, degradable and cytocompatible bredigite (Ca7MgSi4O16) | Bone tissue scaffold using osteoblast-like cells | Sol–gel [61] | No |
| Biomorphic HAp | Bone tissue scaffold and implant | Combination of novel biotemplating and sol–gel methods [62] | No |
| Nanostructure HAp | Low-strength TE including drug delivery and cell loading | Gel casting [63] | No |
| Composites | |||
| Polyvinyl alcohol (PVA)/HAp | Scaffolds for craniofacial and joint defects | Selective laser sintering [64] | Yes |
| PLGA/HAp composite and PLGA-dichloromethane-HAp-DNA/nanoparticles | DNA and PLGA/HAp composite scaffold for bone TE | Electrospinning [65] | – |
| Chitosan/calcium phosphates | TE | Membrane diffusion followed by effective freeze-drying [66] | Yes |
| Polyether etherketone (PEEK)/HAp | Human trabecular bone TE scaffold | Unconfined uniaxial compression [67, 68] | Yes |
| Thermoplastic PU/ collagen | TE scaffold using pig iliac endothelial cell (PIEC) proliferation | Coaxial electrospinning [69] | – |
| Polycaprolactone with 0–50 wt% ceramic (20 wt% HAp/ 80 wt% β-tricalcium) | Scaffold for bone TE | Electrospinning [70] | – |