Title: The biomedical potential of polycaprolactone nanofibrous scaffold containing titanium oxide for wound healing applications

Authors: Hamzah Hashim Kzar; Saade Abdalkareem Jasim; Sanobar Y. Kurbanova; Hasan S. Al-Ghamdi; Forqan Ali Hussein Al-Khafaji; Moaed Emran Al-Gazally; Acim Heri Iswanto; Surendar Aravindhan; Yasser Fakri Mustafa; Mohammad A. Alghamdi

Addresses: Veterinary Medicine College, Al-Qasim Green University, Al-Qasim, 51013, Iraq ' Al-Maarif University College, Medical Laboratory Techniques Department, Al-Anbar-Ramadi, Iraq ' Department of Microbiology and Pharmacology, Tashkent State Dental Institute, Tashkent, Uzbekistan : Department of Scientific Affairs, Samarkand State Medical Institute, Amir Temur Street 18, Samarkand, Uzbekistan ' Faculty of Medicine, Internal Medicine Department, Division of Dermatology, Albaha University, Albah City, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia ' Department of Media, Al-Mustaqbal University College, 51001, Babylon, Hillah, Iraq ' College of Medicine, University of Al-Ameed, Karbala, 56001, Iraq ' Faculty of Health Science, Public Health Department, University of Pembangunan Nasional Veteran Jakarta, Jakarta, Indonesia ' Department of Pharmacology, Saveetha Dental College and Hospital, Saveetha Institute of Medical and Technical Sciences, Chennai, India ' Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, College of Pharmacy, University of Mosul, Mosul–41001, Iraq ' Faculty of Medicine, Internal Medicine Department, Albaha University, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Abstract: Wound dressing is one of the most well-known and challenging issues all over the world. Recently, in the field of biological applications, polymeric scaffolds incorporating metal oxide nanoparticles has been extremely important, especially in focusing on wound healing. In this project, we have successfully fabricated a nano-fibrous scaffold using the electrospinning method prepared by poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL) polymer. Titanium dioxide (TiO₂) is incorporated into the PCL solution as a strong antibacterial element and as a tensile strength enhancer. The characterisation of scaffolds was done by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), mechanical analysis, and water vapour transmission rate (WVTR), porosity. The nanofibers' biocompatibility and capacity for cell attachment were demonstrated by MTT and 4′,6-diamidino-2-phenylindole (DAPI) staining. By using the optical density method and coming into direct touch with gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria, the PCL/TiO₂ scaffold exhibits antibacterial action. These data suggest that engineered nanocomposite scaffold has a superior potential for wound healing applications which improves elasticity, strength, and antibacterial properties.

Keywords: nanofibrous scaffold; poly(ε-caprolactone); wound healing; antibacterial activity; titanium dioxide; nanoparticles; elasticity; biocompatibility; cell attachment; engineered nanocomposite.

DOI: 10.1504/IJMMP.2023.128422

International Journal of Microstructure and Materials Properties, 2023 Vol.16 No.4, pp.278 - 291

Received: 25 Mar 2022
Accepted: 12 Oct 2022
Published online: 20 Jan 2023 *