Gelatin porous scaffolds fabricated using a modified gas foaming technique: Characterisation and cytotoxicity assessment

•A simple method is described for preparation of porous gelatin scaffolds.•The scaffolds were crosslinked using a range of glutaraldehyde concentrations.•The scaffolds were tested using physical, mechanical, and biological methods.•The scaffolds showed porous structure with interconnected porous systems.

The current study presents an effective and simple strategy to obtain stable porous scaffolds from gelatin via a gas foaming method. The technique exploits the intrinsic foaming ability of gelatin in the presence of CO2 to obtain a porous structure stabilised with glutaraldehyde. The produced scaffolds were characterised using physical and mechanical characterisation methods. The results showed that gas foaming may allow the tailoring of the 3-dimensional structure of the scaffolds with an interconnected porous structure. To assess the effectiveness of the preparation method in mitigating the potential cytotoxicity risk of using glutaraldehyde as a crosslinker, direct and in-direct cytotoxicity assays were performed at different concentrations of glutaraldehyde. The results indicate the potential of the gas foaming method, in the preparation of viable tissue engineering scaffolds.