Surface hydrophilization of electrospun PLGA micro-/nano-fibers by blending with Pluronic^® F-108

Poly(lactide-co-glycolide) (PLGA) has been widely explored as scaffolds in tissue engineering. However, its hydrophobicity can adversely affect events such as protein adsorption and downstream cell adhesion in tissue engineering applications. Although surface modification techniques (high energy radiation/chemical treatment) to modify the hydrophobicity of PLGA can be useful at the macroscopic scale, their usefulness for micro-/nano-meter scale objects can be limited due to adverse affects on physical properties. Therefore, in this study we report the surface hydrophilization of electrospun micro-/nano-fiber meshes of PLGA (85:15) by blending with small quantities (0.5-2%) of a non-ionic surfactant Pluronic^® F-108 (PF-108). The blended fiber meshes showed a decrease in surface contact angle when compared to pure PLGA fiber meshes demonstrating an improvement in surface hydrophilicity due to blending. This was corroborated by XPS analysis that demonstrated surface enrichment of PF-108. Thermal and mechanical studies demonstrated that blending with small quantities of PF-108 do not compromise the bulk properties of PLGA. Therefore these studies demonstrated the feasibility of hydrophilization of electrospun PLGA micro-/nano-fibers, without compromising the bulk properties (thermal and mechanical) of native PLGA.