Silica-incorporated polyelectrolyte-complex fibers as tissue-engineering scaffolds

The silica phase was incorporated into the fiber by combining sol-gel chemistry with polyelectrolyte complexation between chitosan and alginic acid. The first stage of the sol-gel process involved the hydrolysis of the tetraethylorthosilicate (TEOS) precursor using acetic acid. The incorporation of silica into polyelectrolyte-complex fibers allowed novel porous scaffolds to be effectively produced by a simple hydro-entanglement process. The retention of scaffold porosity was achieved by crosslinking the fibers with silica, thereby minimizing 'secondary complexation' between the fibers during the aqueous processing.