Synthesis and Properties of PGS-Li Scaffold

Lithium ion-doped polyglycerol sebacate scaffold(PGS)-Li was synthesized by adding lithium ions to polyglycerol sebacate(PGS) during its crosslinking process due to the specific effects of lithium ions on periodontal ligament cells, cementoblasts and the eminent performance of PGS. The molecular mass, composition, structure, porosity, thermal properties, and hydrophilicity of the composite were characterized by gel permeation chromatography(GPC), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy(FTIR), inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometer(ICP-OES), scanning electron microscopy(SEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy(XPS), thermogravimetric analyzer(TGA) and contact angle measurments, and the degradation of the material was evaluated by in vitro degradation experiments. The biological activity of PGS-Li scaffold was detected by calcein-AM staining and cytotoxicity test. The results indicate that PGS-Li scaffold has been successfully synthesized, which has similar composition and structure to PGS, but slightly larger molecular weight. In addition, the porosity and pore size of PGS-Li scaffold ba-sically meet the requirements of engineering scaffold materials and the seaffold shows better performance in terms of hydrophilicity and thermal stability than PGS. In vitro degradation experimental results show that the degradation rate of PGS-Li scaffold is higher than that of PGS. What's more, the results of cytotoxicity test and cell staining show that there is no significant difference in the proliferation and cell morphology of cementoblasts.