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Effect of Mold Geometry on Pore Size in Freeze-Cast Chitosan-Alginate Scaffolds for Tissue Engineering

  • Bioengineering and Enabling Technologies
  • Published:
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Abstract

Freeze-casting is a popular method to produce biomaterial scaffolds with highly porous structures. The pore structure of freeze-cast biomaterial scaffolds is influenced by processing parameters but has mostly been controlled experimentally. A mathematical model integrating Computational Fluid Dynamics with Population Balance Model was developed to predict average pore size (APS) of 3D porous chitosan-alginate scaffolds and to assess the influence of the geometrical parameters of mold on scaffold pore structure. The model predicted the crystallization pattern and APS for scaffolds cast in different diameter molds and filled to different heights. The predictions demonstrated that the temperature gradient and solidification pattern affect ice crystal nucleation and growth, subsequently influencing APS homogeneity. The predicted APS compared favorably with APS measurements from a corresponding experimental dataset, validating the model. Sensitivity analysis was performed to assess the response of the APS to the three geometrical parameters of the mold: well radius; solution fill height; and spacing between wells. The pore size was most sensitive to the distance between the wells and least sensitive to solution height. This validated model demonstrates a method for optimizing the APS of freeze-cast biomaterial scaffolds that could be applied to other compositions or applications.

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Acknowledgments

The computation was performed with courtesy license from ANSYS. The production of the experimental dataset was supported by UCF start-up funding (SJF). The authors thank Dana Rowley and Kathryn Ellett for assistance with scaffold preparation and pore size measurements. The authors would like to acknowledge the use of JEOL JSM-6480 SEM at the Materials Characterization Facility (MCF), administered by Advanced Materials Processing and Analysis Center (AMPAC) of University of Central Florida.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, University of Central Florida, Orlando, USA

    Amir Rouhollahi & Olusegun Ilegbusi

  2. Department of Material Science & Engineering, University of Central Florida, Orlando, USA

    Stephen Florczyk & Kailei Xu

  3. Burnett School of Biomedical Sciences, University of Central Florida, Orlando, USA

    Stephen Florczyk

  4. Department of Computer Science, University of Central Florida, Orlando, USA

    Hassan Foroosh

Authors
  1. Amir Rouhollahi
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  2. Olusegun Ilegbusi
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  3. Stephen Florczyk
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  4. Kailei Xu
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  5. Hassan Foroosh
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Correspondence to Olusegun Ilegbusi or Stephen Florczyk.

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Associate Editor Emmanuel Opara oversaw the review of this article.

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Rouhollahi, A., Ilegbusi, O., Florczyk, S. et al. Effect of Mold Geometry on Pore Size in Freeze-Cast Chitosan-Alginate Scaffolds for Tissue Engineering. Ann Biomed Eng 48, 1090–1102 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10439-019-02381-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10439-019-02381-3

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