ABSTRACT Porous collagen membranes hold significant value in tissue engineering due to their excellent biocompatibility. However, precise control over their microporous structure remains challenging. This study introduces an innovative dual‐strategy combining ultrasonic atomization with sodium carbonate‐induced chemical foaming, which represents a novel chemico‐physical paradigm for fabricating collagen scaffolds with hierarchically tunable pore structures. Sodium carbonate was incorporated into an ethanol‐based coagulation bath to react in situ with acetic acid in the collagen solution, generating carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) bubbles that act as dynamic pore‐forming templates. Meanwhile, ultrasonic atomization enabled uniform dispersion of functional components. Comprehensive characterization demonstrated that an optimal sodium carbonate dosage (3 g) yielded membranes with hierarchical pore structures (55–105 μm), enhanced gas permeability (1.89 ± 0.14 mm/s), reduced enzymatic degradation (49.71% ± 4.79% weight loss), and improved HUVEC infiltration, while preserving the triple‐helix integrity of collagen. This approach also reduced solidification time by 50%. The proposed method offers a novel chemico‐physical paradigm. It represents a breakthrough in overcoming the limitations of traditional phase inversion techniques. It provides a versatile approach for developing customizable collagen‐based scaffolds with significant potential in regenerative medicine.
Shi et al. (Fri,) studied this question.