Supercritical CO2 foaming of thermoplastic materials derived from maize: proof-of concept use in mammalian cell culture applications

Abstract

Foams are high porosity and low density materials. In nature, they are a common architec- ture. Some of their relevant technological applications include heat and sound insulation, lightweight materials, and tissue engineering scaffolds. Foams derived from natural poly- mers are particularly attractive for tissue culture due to their biodegradability and bio-com- patibility. Here, the foaming potential of an extensive list of materials was assayed, including slabs elaborated from whole flour, the starch component only, or the protein frac- tion only of maize seeds