Abstract: Electrospun nanofibers combined with a wide range of functional additives can be used for a various tissue engineering applications due to their desired biomimetic and physicochemical properties. Therefore, the present study was conducted to obtain a highly efficient nanocomposite electrospun scaffold with appropriate physicochemical performance and biological properties based on Polycaprolactone/Polyurethane (PCL/PU) mixed with gold nanoparticles (GNPs) and soybean oil (SO). In the present study, the desired nanofibers were fabricated by electrospinning PCL/PU mixed solution with GNPs and SO. The nanocomposite electrospun PU/PCL/SO/GNP nanofibers were characterized in terms of chemical composition by attenuated total reflectance–Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR), morphological structure by field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), and mechanical and biological properties. The surface topography and wettability were determined by atomic force microscopy (AFM) and water contact angle measurements, respectively. It was found that the presence of GNPs along with SO in the structure of PCL/PU nanofiber created a smoother surface in terms of surface roughness and also a more homogeneous fibrous structure. In addition, it was observed that both SO and GNPs caused an increase in the electrical conductivity of the fibrous mats. In the biocompatibility evaluations by measuring cell viability and cell adherence to the scaffold’s surfaces, it was found that adding of SO and GNPs supports fibroblasts. Taken together, the fabricated nanocomposite fibrous scaffolds can be a potential candidate for various tissue engineering purposes.

Key words: Polycaprolactone , · Polyurethane , · Gold nanoparticles , · Soy oil , · Bionic