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Systematic design and optimisation of layer-by-layer nanocomposite coatings on three-dimensional porous scaffolds for enhanced mechanical performance in bone tissue engineering applications

Sahebalzamani, MohammadAli orcid logoORCID: 0000-0002-3775-5816, McCarthy, Helen O. orcid logoORCID: 0000-0002-1254-3745, Levingstone, Tanya J. orcid logoORCID: 0000-0002-9751-2314 and Dunne, Nicholas J. orcid logoORCID: 0000-0003-4649-2410 (2026) Systematic design and optimisation of layer-by-layer nanocomposite coatings on three-dimensional porous scaffolds for enhanced mechanical performance in bone tissue engineering applications. RSC Advances, 16 . pp. 12389-12407. ISSN 2046-2069

Abstract
Structural integrity and interconnected porosity are essential design criteria for bone tissue scaffolds. This study presents the optimisation of electrostatic layer-by-layer (LbL) assembly conditions for nanocomposite multilayer coatings on highly porous polyurethane scaffold templates, relevant to bone scaffold applications. Mechanically robust LbL coatings were applied to enhance the balance between scaffold porosity and mechanical strength. A design of experiments (DoE) approach using response surface methodology (RSM) was conducted in two stages to systematically optimise both LbL process parameters and nanocomposite composition. The optimised scaffolds exhibited a 260-fold increase in elastic modulus, from 0.09 MPa (uncoated) to 23.55 MPa, while maintaining a highly interconnected pore structure with 78.2% ± 1.24 porosity. These results establish a systematic framework for tuning LbL assembly on porous scaffolds towards bone tissue engineering.
Metadata
Item Type:Article (Published)
Refereed:Yes
Subjects:Engineering > Biomedical engineering
DCU Faculties and Centres:DCU Faculties and Schools > Faculty of Engineering and Computing > School of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering
Publisher:Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC)
Official URL:https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlehtml/2026/r...
Copyright Information:Authors
Funders:The research conducted in this publication was funded by the Research Ireland (Government of Ireland Scholarship Scheme) under award number GOIPG/2020/1344.
ID Code:32999
Deposited On:21 Jul 2026 13:12 by Mohammadali Sahebalzamani . Last Modified 21 Jul 2026 13:12
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