Multifunctional PCL composite nanofibers reinforced with lignin and ZIF-8 for the treatment of bone defects

Polycaprolactone (PCL) nanofibers have become an ideal material for bone tissue engineering due to a series of advantages. Considering the clinical treatment of bone defects, in addition to meeting the golden standard, PCL based nanofibers also need to be multifunctional to anti-inflammatory, antibacterial properties, and enhance the bone regeneration and repair. Herein, we successfully developed the multifunctional PCL/LIG/ZIF-8 composite nanofibers by loading ZIF-8 on electrospun PCL/lignin (PCL/LIG) nanofibers. The prepared composite nanofibers exhibit fairly good wettability and acceptable degradation rate, as well as excellent antioxidative stress and antibacterial properties originating from the incorporated LIG and loaded ZIF-8. Moreover, owing to the synergistic effect of LIG and ZIF-8, the composite nanofibers present excellent osteogenic differentiation, which can be verified in biomineralization experiments and real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction. These results indicate that the PCL/LIG/ZIF-8 composite nanofibers, as potential healthcare candidate, have a promising applied in the treatment of bone defects.