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Polymer Scaffold for Tissue Engineering Applications, 2nd Edition

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A Special Issue of Polymers (ISSN 2073-4360) belonging to the section "Biobased and Biodegradable Polymers".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 October 2026 | Viewed by 4415

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Dr. Ju Fang

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Guest Editor

Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen 518055, China
Interests: mechanical properties; self-healing; biodegradable implant; bone and bones; biomedical hydrogels
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Dr. Huijie Zhang

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Guest Editor

College of Bioresources Chemical and Materials Engineering, Shaanxi University of Science & Technology, Xi’an 710021, China
Interests: biomass-based hydrogels; shape memory hydrogels; tough hydrogels; structure of hydrogels; physically crosslinked hydrogels
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Polymeric scaffolds have received intense interest in recent years due to their tailorable structure, properties, and biological function for supporting tissue restoration. Scaffolds based on new synthetic strategies or polymers are being developed at a fast pace to fulfill the complex demands of broad medical scenarios. Much effort has been exerted in not only the fabrication of advanced scaffolds but also in studying fundamental issues such as cell–scaffold interaction, long-term biocompatibility and degradability evaluation, and the integration of biofunctions with other medical technologies. This Special Issue aims to collect and share cutting-edge research papers and reviews on the topic of “Polymer Scaffolds for Tissue Engineering Applications”, including:

Biomimetic polymeric scaffolds for specific functions;
Conductive polymeric scaffolds and biosensors;
Fabrication and modification of polymeric scaffolds for directing cell behaviors;
Smart and environmental responsive polymeric scaffolds;
Polymeric scaffolds for controlled delivery of bioactive molecules;
Novel technologies, mechanisms, and applications of polymeric scaffolds in tissue engineering.

Dr. Ju Fang
Dr. Huijie Zhang
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-anonymized peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Polymers is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

tissue engineering
biomimetic scaffold
composite scaffold
biosensors
implants

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Polymer Scaffold for Tissue Engineering Applications in Polymers (9 articles)

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Research

19 pages, 6423 KB

Open AccessArticle

Comparative Fatigue Analysis of CF-PLA Metamaterial Bone Plates for Orthopaedic Fixation

by Ani Daniel, Hamed Bakhtiari, Barun K. Das, Muhammad Aamir and Majid Tolouei-Rad

Polymers 2026, 18(10), 1152; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym18101152 - 8 May 2026

Viewed by 748

Abstract

Bone plates are widely used in orthopaedic surgery to stabilise fractured bones and support healing following traumatic injuries or osteotomies. However, conventional metallic bone plates suffer from stress shielding and stiffness mismatch with bone, which can hinder optimal healing. Additive manufacturing enables the incorporation of novel metamaterial architectures into polymer-based implants to enhance mechanical properties. The fatigue behaviour of these implants during the healing period is critical to ensuring their structural integrity and long-term performance. In this study, the compressive fatigue performance of fused deposition modelling (FDM)-printed carbon fibre-reinforced polylactic acid (CF-PLA) bone plates were investigated. Four metamaterial structures—tetrachiral, re-entrant, rotating square, and hexagonal—were evaluated under strain-controlled cyclic loading at 20%, 40%, 60%, and 80% of their respective yield strains. The results showed a strong dependence of fatigue behaviour on lattice geometry. Among the tested configurations, the re-entrant structured bone plate exhibited the best overall fatigue performance, sustaining up to 100,000 cycles at moderate strain levels and showing delayed stiffness degradation under high strain conditions. In contrast, rotating square and hexagonal structures showed early stiffness loss and failure at higher strain levels. These findings highlight the importance of lattice design in fatigue performance, although FDM-induced printing defects significantly influence overall fatigue behaviour. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Polymer Scaffold for Tissue Engineering Applications, 2nd Edition)

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16 pages, 3074 KB

Open AccessArticle

NIR-II Responsive Platinum-Engineered Vanadium Carbide MXene Endows Poly-L-Lactic Acid Bone Scaffold with Photothermal Antibacterial Property

by Lin Sun, Zihao Zhang, Bingxin Sun, Zhiheng Yu and Guoyong Wang

Polymers 2026, 18(3), 378; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym18030378 - 30 Jan 2026

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 973

Abstract

Vanadium carbide (V₂C) MXene shows great potential for addressing challenging implant-associated infections in bone regeneration due to its strong photothermal conversion efficiency. However, its photothermal efficacy is restricted to the near-infrared I (NIR-I) region due to a limited absorption range. To address this, we designed platinum nanoparticle-decorated V₂C heterostructures (Pt@V₂C) via an in situ growth method, leveraging Pt’s plasmonic and catalytic properties to extend the photoresponse to the NIR-II window. Subsequently, Pt@V₂C was integrated into poly-L-lactic acid (PLLA) to fabricate PLLA-Pt@V₂C scaffolds with photothermal antibacterial function by selective laser sintering. The optimized PLLA-Pt@V₂C scaffold achieves a record photothermal conversion efficiency (56.03% at 1064 nm), triggering simultaneous hyperthermia (>52 °C) and catalytic ·OH radical generation. In vitro studies demonstrate exceptional antibacterial efficacy against Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli, achieving over 99% killing rates upon 1064 nm near-infrared irradiation. Furthermore, the scaffold demonstrated significant inhibition of biofilm formation, achieving over 90% reduction in biofilm biomass. Moreover, the scaffold demonstrated high cell viability, confirming its dual functionality of potent bactericidal activity and biocompatibility that supports tissue regeneration. This work provides a feasible strategy for combating implant-associated infections. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Polymer Scaffold for Tissue Engineering Applications, 2nd Edition)

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21 pages, 4674 KB

Open AccessArticle

Segmented Polyurethanes Based on Adipate and Sebacate Biodegradable Polyesters for Use as Nerve Guide Conduits in Peripheral Nerve Regeneration

by Alexis B. Sabido-Barahona, Rossana F. Vargas-Coronado, Fernando Hernández-Sánchez, Antonio Martínez-Richa, José L. Gómez Ribelles, Juan V. Cauich-Rodríguez and Angel Marcos-Fernández

Polymers 2025, 17(12), 1692; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym17121692 - 18 Jun 2025

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1696

Abstract

This study investigated the chemical, thermal, and mechanical properties of segmented polyurethanes (SPUs) synthesized using less common biodegradable polyester polyols, specifically poly(adipate) (PAD) and poly(sebacate) (PSC), to evaluate their potential as nerve guidance conduits (NGCs) in peripheral nerve regeneration. The synthesis of novel 4,4′ methylene-bis-cyclohexyl diisocyanate (HMDI) SPUs was conducted in a two-step process: prepolymer formation and chain extension with 1,4-butanediol (BO) or 1,4-butanediamine (BA). SPUs were synthesized with two molar ratios—polyol:HMDI:BA/BO at 1:2:1 and 1:3:2 for the PAD:HMDI:BA system—to optimize mechanical properties. 1HRMN analysis verified the expected chemical structure of SPUs, whereas Raman and IR spectroscopy confirmed successful polyurethane synthesis. X-ray diffractograms showed that PAD-based SPUs (SPUPAD) were amorphous while PSC-based SPUs (SPUPSC) exhibited semi-crystalline behavior. SPUPAD showed only one degradation stage by TGA, while DSC showed one thermal event. In contrast, SPUPSC exhibited two degradation stages and three thermal events that confirmed phase separation. The longitudinal tensile properties of an NGC fabricated from SPUA-PAD-2 (PAD:HMDI:BA (1:3:2)) after 30 days of immersion in water (25 °C) showed a lower modulus (4.46 ± 0.5 MPa) than native intact nerves (15.87 ± 2.21 MPa) but a similar modulus to extracted nerves (8.19 ± 7.27 MPa). This system exhibited a longitudinal tensile force of 11.1 ± 1.6 N, which is lower than that of peripheral nerves (19.85 ± 7.21 N) but higher than that of commercial collagen-based nerve guide conduits (6.89 ± 2.6 N). The observed properties suggest that PUA-PAD-2 has potential as a biomaterial for nerve regeneration applications. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Polymer Scaffold for Tissue Engineering Applications, 2nd Edition)

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Polymer Scaffold for Tissue Engineering Applications, 2nd Edition

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