Characterization of elastomeric scaffolds developed for tissue engineering applications by compression and nanoindentation tests, μ-Raman and μ-Brillouin spectroscopies.

In tissue engineering, porous biodegradable scaffolds are developed with morphological, chemical and mechanical properties to promote cell response. Therefore, the scaffold characterization at a (sub)micrometer and (bio)molecular level is paramount since cells are sensitive to the chemical signals, the rigidity, and the spatial structuring of their microenvironment. In addition to the analysis at room temperature by conventional quasi-static (0.1-45 Hz) mechanical tests, the ultrasonic (10 MHz) and μ-Brillouin inelastic light scattering (13 GHz) were used in this study to assess the dynamical viscoelastic parameters at different frequencies of elastomeric scaffolds. Time-temperature superposition principle was used to increase the high frequency interval (100 MHz-100 THz) of Brillouin experiments providing a mean to analyse the viscoelastic behavior with the fractional derivative viscoelastic model. Moreover, the μ-Raman analysis carried out simultaneously during the μ-Brillouin experiment, gave the local chemical composition.