Work data for: "Characterization, and Functional Assessment — Development and Evaluation of PCL, PPCA, and TPU Tubular Scaffolds"

The potential of poly(propylene caprolactone) (PPCA) as a new electrospinnable material for vascular scaffold applications is investigated. Electrospun PPCA scaffolds were fabricated and compared with established materials such as thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) and poly(L-lactide-co-ε-caprolactone) (PLC), which are commonly used for their elasticity and mechanical resilience. The electrospinning process produced uniform fibrous structures resembling the extracellular matrix; however, the fibrous architecture itself may influence the intrinsic mechanical properties of the materials. In the first part of this chapter, PPCA scaffolds were functionalized with fluorinated peptides using a non-covalent immobilization strategy and characterized using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). Their biological performance was evaluated through bacterial adhesion assays, mammalian cell adhesion studies, hemocompatibility tests, and coculture experiments.In the second part, tubular graft structures were fabricated from PPCA, TPU, and PLC–TPU bilayer configurations to evaluate their suitability as small-diameter vascular grafts. The mechanical behavior and compliance of the tubular scaffolds were assessed using a customized mechanical testing setup designed to simulate physiological deformation conditions.