Contents of scaffolds
IR spectra (Fig. 4–7) and elemental analysis (Table 3) of the scaffolds have been performed to check whether gelatin remained in their structure. Only scaffolds are having proper morphology and made of PLLA and PCLA before and after rinsing, and the bath was examined. Since PVP and Pluronic® are biocompatible, the scaffolds have not been tested for their presence. For comparison, analyses of raw materials (PLLA, PCLA, gelatin non-woven) and dried mixtures of raw materials, of which scaffolds were obtained, have been performed (before the gelling and rinsing baths).
IR spectra of mixtures of dried raw materials use to prepare scaffolds (before the gelling and rinsing baths), clearly show a significant presence of gelatin (Figs. 4, 6: bands within the range 3500–2800 cm-1). In the spectra, bands related to PLLA (1750 and 1180 cm-1) (Fig. 4, 5) and PCLA (1420 and 1290 cm-1) (Fig. 6, 7) respectively, could be observed. In the spectra of scaffolds after the gelling and rinsing baths (Fig. 5, 7) only the bands related to PLLA and PCLA are visible. There are no bands specific for gelatin.