Preparation of poly (l-lactic acid) microspheres by droplet-freezing process

A recently developed process of microsphere preparation, named droplet-freezing process is introduced in this paper. The PLLA microspheres were fabricated by the droplet-freezing process, the diameter and porosity of the microspheres were measured, and the micro-morphologies of the microspheres were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The formation process of microspheres was achieved by two steps: first, after droplets dropped off the delivery tube, they became approximately spherical in the air under the effect of the surface tension; second, droplets dropped into liquid condensate and maintained the spherical shape, and were frozen during the free settling process. Experimental results indicated that the microspheres fabricated by the droplet-freezing process have uniform diameters and the diameter can be controlled properly, along with the increase of the PLLA concentration, the size of microspheres increases, but the porosity of the microspheres decreases. The microspheres with high porosity can be obtained with a low concentration of the PLLA solution. SEM analysis revealed that the surfaces and interiors of the microsphere contain plentiful and interconnected micro pores. The microspheres are hopeful to be applied in bone tissue engineering.