Water vapor-induced formation of poly(ε-caprolactone) membranes for guided bone regeneration

In periodontal surgery, a widely applied therapy is guided bone regeneration (GBR), in which membranes have a crucial role. The most challenging aspect of producing these GBR membranes is tailoring their pore structure. The phase inversion process is vastly explored and commercially available method for producing membranes due to its low cost and easy processing; however, it is fairly unexplored for GBR membrane production. The aim of the present work was to prepare poly(ε-caprolactone) GBR membranes with unique porous morphology by water vapor-induced phase separation. The response surface methodology, in a two-factorial central composite experimental design, was used to optimize the composition of dope solution used in this vapor-induced phase separation process. As a result, a membrane with distinct morphology and approximately 20.0 ± 2.6 vol% porosity was successfully obtained, in which the thermal and mechanical properties of the polymer were preserved. This membrane proved to be viable for GBR purposes as it presented suitable osteoblast adhesion in a 12-day cell culture essay.