Novel,simple and reproducible method for preparation of composite hierarchal porous structure scaffolds

Demand to develop a simple and adaptable method for preparation the hierarchical porous scaffolds for bone tissue regeneration is ever increasing. This study presents a novel and reproducible method for preparing the scaffolds with pores structure spanning from nano, micro to macro scale. A macroporous Sr-Hardystonite (Sr–Ca₂ZnSi₂O₇, Sr–HT) scaffold with the average pore size of ~ 1200 μm and porosity of ~ 95% was prepared using polymer sponge method. The struts of the scaffold were coated with a viscous paste consisted of salt (NaCl) particles and polycaprolactone (PCL) to provide a layer with thickness of ~ 300–800 μm. A hierarchical porous scaffold was obtained with macro, micro and nanopores in the range of 400–900 μm, 1–120 μm and 40–290 nm, after salt leaching process. These scales could be easily adjusted based on the starting foam physical characteristics, salt particle size, viscosity of the paste and salt/PCL weight ratio.     

Preparation of porous scaffold from hydroxyapatite powders

Hydroxyapatite (HA) powder was prepared by wet chemical method. The hydroxyapatite phase was stable up to 1250 °C without decomposition to beta-tricalcium phosphate. Interconnected porous hydroxyapatite scaffold resembling trabecular bone structure was developed from polymeric replica sponge method. The prepared scaffold has 60 vol.% porosity having a major fraction of ~ 50–125 μm pore diameter. The pore content, pore morphology, pore interconnectivity of scaffold and their compressive strength were dependent on the solid loading and binder content. In-vitro bioactivity and bioresorbability confirmed the feasibility of the developed scaffolds.     

In vitro study on porous silver scaffolds prepared by electroplating method using cellular carbon skeleton as the substrate

Porous silver scaffolds, with the porosity ranging from 68% to 81% and the apparent density ranging from 0.4 to 1 g?cm^? 3 were prepared by electroplating method using cellular carbon skeleton as the substrate. The microstructure, mechanical property, cytotoxicity and antibacterial activity of the prepared porous silver scaffold were studied. The present porous silver scaffolds had a highly three-dimensional trabecular porous structure with the porosity and the apparent density close to that of the cancellous bone. Furthermore, the mechanical property such as elastic modulus and yield strength of the porous silver scaffolds were lower than that of commercial available porous Ti and porous Ti alloys but much closer to that of the cancellous bone and porous Ta. In addition, study of in vitro behavior showed that the porous silver scaffold possessed significant antibacterial capability of inhibition of bacterial proliferation and adherence against Staphylococcus aureus and Staphylococcus epidermidis, and little cytotoxicity to Mg-63 cell line and NIH-3T3 cell line. Consequently, the porous silver scaffolds prepared by electrodeposition possess a promising application for bone implants.     

Fabrication of porous titanium scaffold with controlled porous structure and net-shape using magnesium as spacer

This paper reports a new approach to fabricating biocompatible porous titanium with controlled pore structure and net-shape. The method is based on using sacrificial Mg particles as space holders to produce compacts that are mechanically stable and machinable. Using magnesium granules and Ti powder, Ti/Mg compacts with transverse rupture strength (~ 85 MPa) sufficient for machining were fabricated by warm compaction, and a complex-shape Ti scaffold was eventually produced by removal of Mg granules from the net-shape compact. The pores with the average size of 132–262 μm were well distributed and interconnected. Due to anisotropy and alignment of the pores the compressive strength varied with the direction of compression. In the case of pores aligned with the direction of compression, the compressive strength values (59–280 MPa) high enough for applications in load bearing implants were achieved. To verify the possibility of controlled net-shape, conventional machining process was performed on Ti/Mg compact. Compact with screw shape and porous Ti scaffold with hemispherical cup shape were fabricated by the results. Finally, it was demonstrated by cell tests using MC3T3-E1 cell line that the porous Ti scaffolds fabricated by this technique are biocompatible.     

Co-electrospun blends of PU and PEG as potential biocompatible scaffolds for small-diameter vascular tissue engineering

A small-diameter vascular graft (inner diameter 4 mm) was fabricated from polyurethane (PU) and poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) solutions by blend electrospinning technology. The fiber diameter decreased from 1023 ± 185 nm to 394 ± 106 nm with the increasing content of PEG in electrospinning solutions. The hybrid PU/PEG scaffolds showed randomly nanofibrous morphology, high porosity and well-interconnected porous structure. The hydrophilicity of these scaffolds had been improved significantly with the increasing contents of PEG. The mechanical properties of electrospun hybrid PU/PEG scaffolds were obviously different from that of PU scaffold, which was caused by plasticizing or hardening effect imparted by PEG composition. Under hydrated state, the hybrid PU/PEG scaffolds demonstrated low mechanical performance due to the hydrophilic property of materials. Compared with dry PU/PEG scaffolds with the same content of PEG, the tensile strength and elastic modulus of hydrated PU/PEG scaffolds decreased significantly, while the elongation at break increased. The hybrid PU/PEG scaffolds demonstrated a lower possibility of thrombi formation than blank PU scaffold in platelet adhesion test. The hemolysis assay illustrated that all scaffolds could act as blood contacting materials. To investigate further in vitro cytocompatibility, HUVECs were seeded on the scaffolds and cultured over 14 days. The cells could attach and proliferate well on the hybrid scaffolds than blank PU scaffold, and form a cell monolayer fully covering on the PU/PEG (80/20) hybrid scaffold surface. The results demonstrated that the electrospun hybrid PU/PEG tubular scaffolds possessed the special capacity with excellent hemocompatibility while simultaneously supporting extensive endothelialization with the 20 and 30% content of PEG in hybrid scaffolds.     

Preparation and characterization of bimodal porous poly(γ-benzyl-L-glutamate) scaffolds for bone tissue engineering

An ideal scaffold in bone tissue-engineering strategy should provide biomimetic extracellular matrix-like architecture and biological properties. Poly(γ-benzyl-L-glutamate) (PBLG) has been a popular model polypeptide for various potential biomedical applications due to its good biocompatibility and biodegradability. This study developed novel bimodal porous PBLG polypeptide scaffolds via a combination of biotemplating method and in situ ring-opening polymerization of γ-benzyl-L-gIutamate N-carboxyanhydride (BLG-NCA). The PBLG scaffolds were characterized by proton nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, differential scanning calorimetry, scanning electron microscope (SEM) and mechanical test. The results showed that the semi-crystalline PBLG scaffolds exhibited an anisotropic porous structure composed of honeycomb-like channels (100–200 μm in diameter) and micropores (5–20 μm), with a very high porosity of 97.4 ± 1.6%. The compressive modulus and glass transition temperature were 402.8 ± 20.6 kPa and 20.2 °C, respectively. The in vitro biocompatibility evaluation with MC3T3-E1 cells using SEM, fluorescent staining and MTT assay revealed that the PBLG scaffolds had good biocompatibility and favored cell attachment, spread and proliferation. Therefore, the bimodal porous polypeptide scaffolds are promising for bone tissue engineering.     

Preparation and characterization of genipin-crosslinked rat acellular spinal cord scaffolds

The feasibility of rat acellular spinal cord scaffolds for tissue engineering applications was investigated. Fresh rat spinal cords were decellularized and crosslinked with genipin (GP) to improve their structural stability and mechanical properties. The GP-crosslinked spinal cord scaffolds possessed a porous structure with an average pore diameter of 31.1 μm and a porosity of 81.5%. The resultant scaffolds exhibited a water uptake ratio of 229%, and moderate in vitro degradation rates of less than 5% in phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) and slightly more than 20% in trypsin-containing buffer, within 14 days. The ultimate tensile strength and elastic modulus of GP-crosslinked spinal cord scaffolds were determined to be 0.193 ± 0.064 MPa and 1.541 ± 0.082 MPa, respectively. Compared with glutaraldehyde (GA)-crosslinked acellular spinal cord scaffolds, GP-crosslinked scaffolds demonstrated similar microstructure and mechanical properties but superior biocompatibility as indicated by cytotoxicity evaluation and rat mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) adhesion behavior. Cells were able to penetrate throughout the crosslinked scaffold due to the presence of an interconnected porous structure. The low cytotoxicity of GP facilitated cell proliferation and extracellular matrix (ECM) secretion in vitro on the crosslinked scaffolds over 7 days. Thus, these GP-crosslinked spinal cord scaffolds show great promise for tissue engineering applications.     

Development,characterization, and in vitro bioactivity studies of sol–gel bioactive glass/poly(l-lactide) nanocomposite scaffolds

Developing materials combining the advantages of synthetic polymers and bioactive glass nanoparticles can provide an efficient bone engineering scaffold. In this study, sol–gel bioactive glass (SG) nanoparticles were synthesized by quick alkali-mediation; sol–gel derived bioactive glass/poly(l-lactide) nanocomposite scaffolds were then developed. The influence of the glass content on the porosity of nanocomposite scaffolds was evaluated by SEM. The results showed that the neat polymer scaffold (PLA) has a highly interconnected porous structure with a maximum pore size of about 250 μm. For the composite scaffold containing 25 wt.% glass (SGP25), the decrease in the maximum pore size, (to about 200 μm) was not significant while for the SGP50 composite scaffold containing 50 wt.% glass it was a significant decrease (to about 100 μm). The apparent porosity of the scaffolds was 56.56% ± 7.15, 54.14% ± 3.84, and 53.11% ± 3.99 for PLA, SGP25, and, SGP50 respectively. FT-IR, TGA, and XRD results revealed some interaction of the glass filler with the polymeric matrix in the scaffolds. The degradation study showed that, by increasing the glass content in the scaffolds, the water absorption decreased, the weight loss increased, and the cumulative ion concentrations released from them also increased. This indicates the possibility of modulating the degradation rate by varying the glass/polymer ratio. At the end of the incubation period, the weight losses were around 5.44% ± 0.96, 32.50% ± 2.73, and 41.47% ± 3.02 for the PLA, SGP25, and SGP50, respectively. Moreover, the water uptake reached 119.65% ± 18.88 and 93.39% ± 13.01 for SGP25 and SGP50, respectively. The addition of the SG to the scaffolds was found to enhance their in vitro bioactivity. Therefore, these nanocomposite scaffolds have a potential to be applied in bone engineering. All data are expressed as mean ± standard deviation (n = 3).     

Facile fabrication of the porous three-dimensional regenerated silk fibroin scaffolds

In the present work, we report a new facile method to fabricate porous three-dimensional regenerated silk fibroin (RSF) scaffolds through n-butanol- and freezing-induced conformation transition and phase separation. The effects of RSF concentration, freezing temperature and n-butanol addition on the microstructure, the secondary structures of silk fibroin and apparent mechanical properties of the RSF scaffolds were investigated by SEM, ¹³C CP-MAS NMR spectra and mechanical testing, respectively. By adjusting the RSF concentration and n-butanol addition, the pore size of the scaffold could be controlled in the range from of 10 μm to 350 μm with 84%–98% of porosity. The tensile strength of the wet scaffold reached the maximum of 755.2 ± 33.6 kPa when the concentration of RSF solution was increased to 15% w/w. Moreover, post-treatment with ethanol further induced conformation transition of RSF from random coil or helix to β-sheet. The porous scaffolds prepared by this facile and energy-saving method with good biocompatibility will have great potential for application in tissue engineering.     

Fabrication of three-dimensional poly(ε-caprolactone) scaffolds with hierarchical pore structures for tissue engineering

The physical properties of tissue engineering scaffolds such as microstructures play important roles in controlling cellular behaviors and neotissue formation. Among them, the pore size stands out as a key determinant factor. In the present study, we aimed to fabricate porous scaffolds with pre-defined hierarchical pore sizes, followed by examining cell growth in these scaffolds. This hierarchical porous microstructure was implemented via integrating different pore-generating methodologies, including salt leaching and thermal induced phase separation (TIPS). Specifically, large (L, 200–300 μm), medium (M, 40–50 μm) and small (S, < 10 μm) pores were able to be generated. As such, three kinds of porous scaffolds with a similar porosity of ~ 90% creating pores of either two (LS or MS) or three (LMS) different sizes were successfully prepared. The number fractions of different pores in these scaffolds were determined to confirm the hierarchical organization of pores. It was found that the interconnectivity varied due to the different pore structures. Besides, these scaffolds demonstrated similar compressive moduli under dry and hydrated states. The adhesion, proliferation, and spatial distribution of human fibroblasts within the scaffolds during a 14-day culture were evaluated with MTT assay and fluorescence microscopy. While all three scaffolds well supported the cell attachment and proliferation, the best cell spatial distribution inside scaffolds was achieved with LMS, implicating that such a controlled hierarchical microstructure would be advantageous in tissue engineering applications.     

Biological evaluation of human hair keratin scaffolds for skin wound repair and regeneration

The cytocompatibility, in vivo biodegradation and wound healing of keratin biomaterials were investigated. For the purposes, three groups of keratin scaffolds were fabricated by freeze-drying reduced solutions at 2 wt.%, 4 wt.% and 8 wt.% keratins extracted from human hairs. These scaffolds exhibited evenly distributed high porous structures with pore size of 120–220 μm and the porosity > 90%. NIH3T3 cells proliferated well on these scaffolds in culture lasting up to 22 days. Confocal micrographs stained with AO visually revealed cell attachment and infiltration as well as scaffold architectural stability. In vivo animal experiments were conducted with 4 wt.% keratin scaffolds. Early degradation of subcutaneously implanted scaffolds occurred at 3 weeks in the outermost surface, in concomitant with inflammatory response. At 5 weeks, the overall porous structure of scaffolds severely deteriorated while the early inflammatory response in the outermost surface obviously subsided. A faster keratin biodegradation was observed in repairing full-thickness skin defects. Compared with the blank control, keratin scaffolds gave rise to more blood vessels at 2 weeks and better complete wound repair at 3 weeks with a thicker epidermis, less contraction and newly formed hair follicles. These preliminary results suggest that human hair keratin scaffolds are promising dermal substitutes for skin regeneration.     

Human-like collagen/nano-hydroxyapatite scaffolds for the culture of chondrocytes

Three dimensional (3D) biodegradable porous scaffolds play a key role in cartilage tissue repair. Freeze-drying and cross-linking techniques were used to fabricate a 3D composite scaffold that combined the excellent biological characteristics of human-like collagen (HLC) and the outstanding mechanical properties of nano-hydroxyapatite (nHA). The scaffolds were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and compression tests, using Relive® Artificial Bone (RAB) scaffolds as a control. HLC/nHA scaffolds displayed homogeneous interconnected macroporous structure and could withstand a compression stress of 2.67 ± 0.37 MPa, which was higher than that of the control group. Rabbit chondrocytes were seeded on the composite porous scaffolds and cultured for 21 days. Cell/scaffold constructs were examined using SEM, histological procedures, and biochemical assays for cell proliferation and the production of glycosaminoglycans (GAGs). The results indicated that HLC/nHA porous scaffolds were capable of encouraging cell adhesion, homogeneous distribution and abundant GAG synthesis, and maintaining natural chondrocyte morphology compared to RAB scaffolds. In conclusion, the presented data warrants the further exploration of HLC/nHA scaffolds as a potential biomimetic platform for chondrocytes in cartilage tissue engineering.     

Dynamic freeze casting for the production of porous titanium (Ti) scaffolds

This paper proposes dynamic freeze casting as a new manufacturing technique for producing porous Ti scaffolds with a uniform porous structure and good ductility. In this method, Ti/camphene slurries with various initial Ti contents (15, 20, and 25 vol.%) were frozen at 44 °C for 12 h in rotation, which allowed for the extensive growth of camphene crystals and the uniform construction of walls made of Ti particles. All the fabricated samples showed spherical-like pores surrounded by dense Ti walls that were uniformly formed after sintering at 1300 °C for 2 h in a vacuum. The porosity decreased from 71 to 52 vol.% with an increase in Ti content from 15 to 25 vol.%, whereas the pore size decreased from 362 to 95 μm. On the other hand, the compressive strength and stiffness increased considerably from 57 ± 4 to 183 ± 6 MPa and from 1.3 ± 0.5 to 5.0 ± 0.8 GPa, respectively, due to the decrease in the porosity of the samples.     

Preparation of high strength macroporous hydroxyapatite scaffold

Hydroxyapatite (HAp) powder was prepared from CaNO₃·4H₂O and (NH₄)₂HPO₄ by wet-chemical method and has phase stable up to 1250 °C. High strength macroporous HAp–naphthalene (HN) and HAp–naphthalene–benzene (HNB) scaffolds were fabricated by adapting sintering method. The resulting HAp scaffolds have porosity about 60 vol.% with compressive strength of ~ 11 MPa and average pore diameter in the range of ~ 125 μm. The incorporation of benzene in HN scaffold reduces the strength whereas enhanced both the porosity and pore size distribution. XRD, FTIR, SEM and mercury porosimeter techniques were used to study the phase purity, morphology, pore size and pore size distribution of scaffold. The study compared the effect of concentration of naphthalene on strength, porosity and pore size distribution on both HN and HNB scaffold. In-vitro bioactivity studies on HN and HNB scaffolds show the nucleation of spherical carbonated apatite particles on the surface in SBF solution.     

Trabecular scaffolds created using micro CT guided fused deposition modeling

Free form fabrication and high resolution imaging techniques enable the creation of biomimetic tissue engineering scaffolds. A 3D CAD model of canine trabecular bone was produced via micro CT and exported to a fused deposition modeler, to produce polybutylene terephthalate (PBT) trabeculated scaffolds and four other scaffold groups of varying pore structures. The five scaffold groups were divided into subgroups (n = 6) and compression tested at two load rates (49 N/s and 294 N/s). Two groups were soaked in a 25 °C saline solution for 7 days before compression testing. Micro CT was used to compare porosity, connectivity density, and trabecular separation of each scaffold type to a canine trabecular bone sample. At 49 N/s the dry trabecular scaffolds had a compressive stiffness of 4.94 ± 1.19 MPa, similar to the simple linear small pore scaffolds and significantly more stiff (p < 0.05) than either of the complex interconnected pore scaffolds. At 294 N/s, the compressive stiffness values for all five groups roughly doubled. Soaking in saline had an insignificant effect on stiffness. The trabecular scaffolds matched bone samples in porosity; however, achieving physiologic connectivity density and trabecular separation will require further refining of scaffold processing.     

Porous poly(vinyl alcohol)/sepiolite bone scaffolds: Preparation,structure and mechanical properties

Porous poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA)/sepiolite nanocomposite scaffolds containing 0–10 wt.% sepiolite were prepared by freeze-drying and thermally crosslinked with poly(arylic acid). The microstructure of the obtained scaffolds was characterised by scanning electron microscopy and micro-computed tomography, which showed a ribbon and ladder like interconnected structure. The incorporation of sepiolite increased the mean pore size and porosity of the PVA scaffold as well as the degree of anisotropy due to its fibrous structure. The tensile strength, modulus and energy at break of the PVA solid material that constructed the scaffold were found to improve with additions of sepiolite by up to 104%, 331% and 22% for 6 wt.% clay. Such enhancements were attributed to the strong interactions between the PVA and sepiolite, the good dispersion of sepiolite nanofibres in the matrix and the intrinsic properties of the nanofibres. However, the tensile properties of the PVA scaffold deteriorated in the presence of sepiolite because of the higher porosity, pore size and degree of anisotropy. The PVA/sepiolite nanocomposite scaffold containing 6 wt.% sepiolite was characterised by an interconnected structure, a porosity of 89.5% and a mean pore size of 79 μm and exhibited a tensile strength of 0.44 MPa and modulus of 14.9 MPa, which demonstrates potential for this type of materials to be further developed as bone scaffolds.     

Macroporous and nanofibrous poly(lactide-co-glycolide)(50/50) scaffolds via phase separation combined with particle-leaching

Poly(lactide-co-glycolide) (PLGA) copolymers are the most prevalent materials for tissue engineering applications. To mimic the real microenvironment of extracellular matrix (ECM) for cell growth, nanofibrous PLGA scaffolds are preferred. PLGA5050 (in which the molar ratio of lactidyl to glycolidyl units is 50:50), which is an utterly amorphous polymer, was first reported to be made into nanofibrous networks (fiber diameter around 500 nm) using phase separation from PLGA5050/THF solutions in this study. The concentration of polymeric solution had significant effects on fiber diameter and unit length. Nonsolvent (e.g. H₂O) was unnecessary to form the PLGA5050 gel, which was critical to nanofibrosis, as if the environmental temperature for gelation occurrence was low enough (? 70 °C). The physical crosslinks to stabilize the PLGA5050/THF gel were believed to be GA segments along the backbone owing to their inferior solubility in THF. The addition of H₂O would cause adverse effects of liquid–liquid phase separation and nanofibrosis failure owing to the hydrophilicity of glycolidyl units. Associating with the phase separation method, particle-leaching technique was applied to fabricate three-dimensional scaffolds with macroporous and nanofibrous structures. To ensure the occurrence of nanofibrosis on macropore walls, the temperature of salt particles should be best lowed to ? 70 °C beforehand. Accordingly, scaffolds prepared under varied parameters exhibited different nanofiber and pore morphologies, which affected the pore size, porosity, specific surface area, water contact angle and protein adsorption ability etc. The preliminary cell (MC3T3-E1) culture confirmed the cell ingrowth into the macroporous and nanofibrous PLGA5050 scaffolds in comparison with the solely nanofibrous matrixes. This kind of bi-scaled three dimensional matrixes can be superior candidate scaffolds for tissue engineering applications.     

Biofabrication and in vitro study of hydroxyapatite/mPEG–PCL–mPEG scaffolds for bone tissue engineering using air pressure-aided deposition technology

The aims of this study were to fabricate biopolymer and biocomposite scaffolds for bone tissue engineering by an air pressure-aided deposition system and to carry out osteoblast cell culture tests to validate the biocompatibility of fabricated scaffolds. A mPEG–PCL–mPEG triblock copolymer was synthesized as a biopolymer material. Biocomposite material was composed of synthesized biopolymer and hydroxyapatite (HA) with a mean diameter of 100 μm. The weight ratio of HA added to the synthesized biopolymer was 0.1, 0.25, 0.5 and 1. The experimental results show that the maximum average compressive strength of biocomposite scaffolds, made of weight ratio 0.5, with mean pore size of 410 μm (porosity 81%) is 18.38 MPa which is two times stronger than that of biopolymer scaffolds. Osteoblast cells, MC3T3-E1, were seeded on both types of fabricated scaffolds to validate the biocompatibility using methylthianzol tetrazolium (MTT) assay and cell morphology observation. After 28 days of in vitro culturing, the seeded osteoblasts were well distributed in the interior of both types of scaffolds. Furthermore, MTT experimental results show that the cell viability of the biocomposite scaffold is higher than that of the biopolymer scaffold. This indicates that adding HA into synthesized biopolymer can enhance compressive strength and the proliferation of the osteoblast cell.     

Construct of asymmetrical scaffold and primary cells for tissue engineered esophagus

Porous polymeric scaffolds have been widely employed as analogues of native extracellular matrix to create a living construct that would mimic the complexities of human tissue function in the field of tissue engineering. An asymmetrical porous 3-D substitute to be used as a scaffold for tissue engineered esophagus was fabricated using thermally induced phase separation (TIPS) method. The scaffold in which there are pores with 1–10 µm diameter on one side and ≥ 50–100 µm size on the other side and in the bulk was designed to mimic the mucosa constitute that is the most important functional layer of a normal esophagus. The cell and scaffold construct was evaluated using Hematoxylin and Eosin (H&E) staining as well as fluorescein diacetate (FDA) viable cell staining. It was found for the scaffold to be able to support the growth of primary esophageal epithelial cells on the side with micropores and fibroblasts in the scaffold bulk with large pores and good connectivity. A confluent layer of epithelial cells was observed throughout the surface with micropores, with multilayer of cells found at some locations. Clusters of fibroblasts were found on the other side as well as within the bulk of the scaffold.     

The effect of processing parameters and solid concentration on the mechanical and microstructural properties of freeze-casted macroporous hydroxyapatite scaffolds

The design and fabrication of macroporous hydroxyapatite scaffolds, which could overcome current bone tissue engineering limitations, have been considered in recent years. In the current study, controlled unidirectional freeze-casting at different cooling rates was investigated. In the first step, different slurries with initial hydroxyapatite concentrations of 7–37.5 vol.% were prepared. In the next step, different cooling rates from 2 to 14 °C/min were applied to synthesize the porous scaffold. Additionally, a sintering temperature of 1350 °C was chosen as an optimum temperature. Finally, the phase composition (by XRD), microstructure (by SEM), mechanical characteristics, and the porosity of sintered samples were assessed. The porosity of the sintered samples was in a range of 45–87% and the compressive strengths varied from 0.4 MPa to 60 MPa. The mechanical strength of the scaffolds increased as a function of initial concentration, cooling rate, and sintering temperature. With regards to mechanical strength and pore size, the samples with the initial concentration and the cooling rate of 15 vol.% and 5 °C/min, respectively, showed better results.