A biological scaffold filled with silica and simultaneously crosslinked with polyurethane

The present study investigates the use of SiO2 networks combined with polyurethane prepolymer (PUP) as filler and crosslinker for biological scaffolds. We also studied its effect on the in vitro biostability, the macrophage adhesion/proliferation and the tensile viscoelastic response. The biocomposite was prepared by the simultaneous crosslinking/filling of pericardial extracellular matrix (ECM) with PUP and hydrolysis-condensation of tetraethylorthosilicate (TEOS). This modification was used to regulate some biological and structural features of the tissue engineering scaffold. The PUP-SiO2-ECM material shows equivalent viscoelastic response to that densely-crosslinked matrix (either glutaraldehyde or PUP), and equal macrophage adhesion and in vitro biostability that non-crosslinked ECM scaffold.