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Polymers
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Polymer Scaffolds for Tissue Engineering, 3rd Edition
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Polymer Scaffolds for Tissue Engineering, 3rd Edition

A special issue of Polymers (ISSN 2073-4360). This special issue belongs to the section "Polymer Applications".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 March 2026 | Viewed by 4342

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Jin-Jia Hu

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Mechanical Engineering, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, Hsinchu, Taiwan
Interests: biomaterials; mechanical engineering; tissue engineering
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Tissue engineering has evolved into a highly interdisciplinary field dedicated to the repair and regeneration of tissues and organs. Polymer scaffolds play a key role in this endeavor, providing not only structural support but also biochemical and biophysical cues that guide tissue development and integration. Recent advancements in scaffold design—incorporating bioactive materials, nanotechnology, and 3D printing—have significantly enhanced their functionality, biocompatibility, and capacity for mimicking the native extracellular matrix.

The development of bioactive, functional, and patient-specific scaffolds is gaining increasing attention. Innovations in stimuli-responsive polymers, nanostructured materials, and hybrid biomaterials are revolutionizing scaffold performance by enhancing cellular behavior. Advanced fabrication techniques, such as 3D printing and electrospinning, enable precise control of scaffold architecture, facilitating the replication of complex native tissue structures. The continued exploration of synthetic polymers, natural polymers, and their combinations is driving new opportunities in this rapidly evolving field.

For this Special Issue on "Polymer Scaffolds for Tissue Engineering", we invite original research and review articles that investigate next-generation scaffold technologies. We are particularly interested in bioactive, multifunctional, and intelligent scaffolds that address existing challenges and propel future advancements in tissue engineering.

We look forward to your contributions.

Prof. Dr. Jin-Jia Hu
Guest Editor

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-blind 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

  • polymers in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine
  • synthesis and characterization of polymer for tissue engineering
  • bioactive polymer scaffolds
  • functional polymer scaffolds
  • cell–materials interactions
  • mechanobiology

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Related Special Issues

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

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17 pages, 4246 KB  
Article
Hydrothermal Treatment to Enhance Supercritical CO2 Polycaprolactone Foaming Processes for Tissue Engineering Scaffolds
by Belén García-Jarana, Diego Valor, Ignacio García-Casas, Jezabel Sánchez-Oneto, Casimiro Mantell, Juan R. Portela and Clara Pereyra
Polymers 2025, 17(22), 3076; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym17223076 - 20 Nov 2025
Viewed by 500
Abstract
Hydrothermal treatment was investigated as a strategy to enhance the supercritical CO2 foaming process for the fabrication of polycaprolactone (PCL) scaffolds intended for tissue engineering applications. PCL samples were subjected to supercritical foaming at 300 bar and 40 °C for 60 min, [...] Read more.
Hydrothermal treatment was investigated as a strategy to enhance the supercritical CO2 foaming process for the fabrication of polycaprolactone (PCL) scaffolds intended for tissue engineering applications. PCL samples were subjected to supercritical foaming at 300 bar and 40 °C for 60 min, combined with hydrothermal treatments performed either before or after foaming at temperatures of 70–100 °C and pressures of 10–20 bar. The effects of these treatments on scaffold morphology, porosity, and mechanical behavior were evaluated using scanning electron microscopy, micro-computed tomography, and compression testing. The results showed that hydrothermal treatment prior to foaming significantly improved scaffold porosity from 16.5% (untreated PCL) up to 57.9% while increasing pore interconnectivity (up to 156.8 throats mm−3). Conversely, post-foaming hydrothermal treatment led to pore collapse and loss of structural integrity. The pre-treated scaffolds maintained compressive moduli within 2–12 MPa, consistent with values required for bone tissue engineering. In vitro degradation in PBS revealed a moderate increase in weight loss (~10% after 90 days), indicating that the hydrothermal step slightly accelerates polymer hydrolysis without compromising stability. These findings demonstrate that combining hydrothermal pre-treatment with supercritical CO2 foaming provides a solvent-free route to tailor scaffold morphology and mechanical performance, offering a sustainable alternative for the design of bioresorbable materials in regenerative medicine. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Polymer Scaffolds for Tissue Engineering, 3rd Edition)
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Review

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51 pages, 4171 KB  
Review
Brick by Brick the Wall Is Being Built: Particle-Based Scaffolds for Regenerative Medicine
by Viktor Korzhikov-Vlakh, Lei Wang, Sofia Morozova, Ekaterina Sinitsyna, Tatiana Tennikova and Evgenia Korzhikova-Vlakh
Polymers 2025, 17(23), 3227; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym17233227 - 4 Dec 2025
Viewed by 443
Abstract
Tissue engineering offers a promising solution by developing scaffolds that mimic the extracellular matrix and guide cellular growth and differentiation. Recent evidence suggests that scaffolds must provide not only biocompatibility and appropriate mechanical properties, but also the structural complexity and heterogeneity characteristic of [...] Read more.
Tissue engineering offers a promising solution by developing scaffolds that mimic the extracellular matrix and guide cellular growth and differentiation. Recent evidence suggests that scaffolds must provide not only biocompatibility and appropriate mechanical properties, but also the structural complexity and heterogeneity characteristic of natural tissues. Particle-based scaffolds represent an emerging paradigm in regenerative medicine, wherein micro- and nanoparticles serve as primary building blocks rather than minor additives. This approach offers exceptional control over scaffold properties through precise selection and combination of particles with varying composition, size, rigidity, and surface characteristics. The presented review examines the fundamental principles, fabrication methods, and properties of particle-based scaffolds. It discusses how interparticle connectivity is achieved through techniques such as selective laser sintering, colloidal gel formation, and chemical cross-linking, while scaffold architecture is controlled via molding, templating, cryogelation, electrospinning, and 3D printing. The resulting materials exhibit tunable mechanical properties ranging from soft injectable gels to rigid load-bearing structures, with highly interconnected porosity that is essential for cell infiltration and vascularization. Importantly, particle-based scaffolds enable sophisticated pharmacological functionality through controlled delivery of growth factors, drugs, and bioactive molecules, while their modular nature facilitates the creation of spatial gradients mimicking native tissue complexity. Overall, the versatility of particle-based approaches positions them as prospective tools for tissue engineering applications spanning bone, cartilage, and soft tissue regeneration, offering solutions that integrate structural support with biological instruction and therapeutic delivery on a single platform. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Polymer Scaffolds for Tissue Engineering, 3rd Edition)
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52 pages, 1718 KB  
Review
Plant-Based Scaffolds for Tissue Engineering: A Review
by Maria Isabela Vargas-Ovalle, Christian Demitri and Marta Madaghiele
Polymers 2025, 17(19), 2705; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym17192705 - 8 Oct 2025
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2789
Abstract
The global need for tissue and organ transplantation paved the way for plant-based scaffolds as cheap, ethical, and valuable alternatives to synthetic and animal-derived matrices for tissue regeneration. Over the years, the field has outgrown its initial scope, including the development of tissue [...] Read more.
The global need for tissue and organ transplantation paved the way for plant-based scaffolds as cheap, ethical, and valuable alternatives to synthetic and animal-derived matrices for tissue regeneration. Over the years, the field has outgrown its initial scope, including the development of tissue models, platforms for drug testing and delivery, biosensors, and laboratory-grown meat. In this scoping review, we aimed to shed light on the frequency of the use of different plant matrices, the main techniques for decellularization, the functionalization methods for stimulating mammalian cell attachment, and the main results. To that purpose, we searched the keywords “decellularized” AND “scaffold” AND (“plant” OR “vegetable”) in online-available databases (Science Direct, Scopus, PubMed, and Sage Journals). From the selection and study of 71 articles, we observed a multitude of plant sources and tissues, along with a large and inhomogeneous body of protocols used for decellularization, functionalization and recellularization of plant matrices, which all led to variable results, with different extents of success (mostly in vitro). Since the field of plant-based scaffolds shows high potential for growth in the next few years, driven by emerging biotechnological applications, we conclude that future research should focus on plant sources with low economic and environmental impacts while also pursuing the standardization of the methods involved and a much deeper characterization of the scaffold performance in vivo. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Polymer Scaffolds for Tissue Engineering, 3rd Edition)
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