Mechanical, thermal and morphological characterisation of 3D porous Pennisetum purpureum/PLA biocomposites scaffold

- High interconnected pores with 99% of porosity were observed for the scaffolds.
- The pore sizes of the P. purpureum/PLA scaffolds ranged from 69 to 215 μm.
- Addition of fillers improves the thermal properties and stability of the scaffolds.
- PLA-PP30 scaffold showed enhanced compression modulus from 1.73 to 5.25 MPa.

The mechanical, thermal, and morphological properties of a 3D porous Pennisetum purpureum (PP)/polylactic acid (PLA) based scaffold were investigated. In this study, a scaffold containing P. purpureum and PLA was produced using the solvent casting and particulate leaching method. P. purpureum fibre, also locally known as Napier grass, is composed of 46% cellulose, 34% hemicellulose, and 20% lignin. PLA composites with various P. purpureum contents (10%, 20%, and 30%) were prepared and subsequently characterised. The morphologies, structures and thermal behaviours of the prepared composite scaffolds were characterised using field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The morphology was studied using FESEM; the scaffold possessed 70-200 μm-sized pores with a high level of interconnectivity. The moisture content and mechanical properties of the developed porous scaffolds were further characterised. The P. purpureum/PLA scaffold had a greater porosity factor (99%) and compression modulus (5.25 MPa) than those of the pure PLA scaffold (1.73 MPa). From the results, it can be concluded that the properties of the highly porous P. purpureum/PLA scaffold developed in this study can be controlled and optimised. This can be used to facilitate the construction of implantable tissue-engineered cartilage.