Application of porogenes in production of porouspolymers by supercritical foaming

Biocomposite foam scaffolds of poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL) with different porogenes were producedwith batch foaming technique using supercritical carbon dioxide (scCO2)as a blowing agent. Inperformed experiments composites were prepared from graphene-oxide (nGO), nano-hydroxyapatite(nHA) and nano-cellulose (nC), with various concentrations. The objective of the study was to explorethe effects of porogen concentration and foaming process parameters on the morphology and me-chanical properties of three-dimensional porous structures that can be used as temporary scaffolds intissue engineering. The structures were manufactured using scCO2as a blowing agent, at two variousfoaming pressures (9 MPa and 18 MPa), at three different temperatures (323 K, 343 K and 373 K) fordifferent saturation times (0.5 h, 1 h and 4 h). In order to examine the utility of porogenes, a number oftests, such as static compression tests, thermal analysis and scanning electron microscopy, have beenperformed. Analysis of experimental results showed that the investigated materials demonstrated highmechanical strength and a wide range of pore sizes. The obtained results suggest that PCL porousstructures are useful as biodegradable and biocompatible scaffolds for tissue engineering.