eprintid: 10096687 rev_number: 21 eprint_status: archive userid: 608 dir: disk0/10/09/66/87 datestamp: 2020-11-25 10:37:45 lastmod: 2021-09-22 22:11:39 status_changed: 2020-11-25 10:37:45 type: article metadata_visibility: show creators_name: Wang, D creators_name: Romer, F creators_name: Connell, L creators_name: Walter, C creators_name: Saiz, E creators_name: Yue, S creators_name: Lee, PD creators_name: McPhail, DS creators_name: Hanna, JV creators_name: Jones, JR title: Highly flexible silica/chitosan hybrid scaffolds with oriented pores for tissue regeneration ispublished: pub divisions: UCL divisions: B04 divisions: C05 divisions: F45 note: This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. abstract: Inorganic/organic sol–gel hybrids have nanoscale co-networks of organic and inorganic components that give them the unique potential of tailored mechanical properties and controlled biodegradation in tissue engineering applications. Here, silica/chitosan hybrid scaffolds with oriented structures were fabricated through the sol–gel method with a unidirectional freeze casting process. 3-Glycidoxypropyl trimethoxysilane (GPTMS) was used to obtain covalent inorganic/organic coupling. Process variables were investigated such as cooling rate, GPTMS and inorganic content, which can be used to tailor the mechanical properties and hybrid chemical coupling. Structural characterization and dissolution tests confirmed the covalent cross-linking of the chitosan and the silica network in hybrids. The scaffolds had a directional lamellar structure along the freezing direction and a cellular morphology perpendicular to the freezing direction. Compression testing showed that the scaffolds with 60 wt% organic were flexible and elastomeric perpendicular to the freezing direction whilst behaving in an elastic-brittle fashion parallel to the freezing direction. The compressive strengths are about one order of magnitude higher in the latter direction reaching values of the order of 160 kPa. This behaviour provides potential for clinicians to be able to squeeze the materials to fit tissue defect sites while providing some mechanical support from the other direction. date: 2015 date_type: published publisher: ROYAL SOC CHEMISTRY official_url: https://doi.org/10.1039/c5tb00767d oa_status: green full_text_type: pub language: eng primo: open primo_central: open_green verified: verified_manual elements_id: 1557273 doi: 10.1039/c5tb00767d lyricists_name: Lee, Peter lyricists_id: PLEEX57 actors_name: Jayawardana, Anusha actors_id: AJAYA51 actors_role: owner full_text_status: public publication: Journal of Materials Chemistry B volume: 3 number: 38 pagerange: 7560-7576 pages: 17 issn: 2050-7518 citation: Wang, D; Romer, F; Connell, L; Walter, C; Saiz, E; Yue, S; Lee, PD; ... Jones, JR; + view all <#> Wang, D; Romer, F; Connell, L; Walter, C; Saiz, E; Yue, S; Lee, PD; McPhail, DS; Hanna, JV; Jones, JR; - view fewer <#> (2015) Highly flexible silica/chitosan hybrid scaffolds with oriented pores for tissue regeneration. Journal of Materials Chemistry B , 3 (38) pp. 7560-7576. 10.1039/c5tb00767d <https://doi.org/10.1039/c5tb00767d>. Green open access document_url: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10096687/1/Lee_c5tb00767d.pdf