School of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, 637457, Singapore.
ACS Appl Mater Interfaces. 2012 Sep 26;4(9):4610-5. doi: 10.1021/am300985p. Epub 2012 Sep 4.
Here we demonstrate a polysaccharide hydrogel reinforced with finely dispersed single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) using biocompatible dispersants O-carboxymethylchitosan (OC) and chondroitin sulfate A (CS-A) as a structural support. Both of the dispersants can disperse SWNTs in aqueous solutions and hydrogel matrix as individual tubes or small bundles. Additionally, we have found that compressive modulus and strain of the hydrogels reinforced with SWNTs were enhanced as much as two times by the addition of a few weight percent of SWNTs. Moreover, the SWNT-incorporated hydrogels exhibited lower impedance and higher charge capacity than the alginate/dispersant hydrogel without SWNTs. The OC and the CS-A demonstrated much higher reinforcing enhancement than a commercially available dispersant, sodium dodecyl sulfate. Combined with the experimental data on the mechanical and electrical properties, the biocompatibility of OC and CS-A can provide the possibility of biomedical application of the SWNT-reinforced hydrogels.
在这里，我们展示了一种使用生物相容性分散剂 O-羧甲基壳聚糖 (OC) 和硫酸软骨素 A (CS-A) 作为结构支撑物，增强了精细分散的单壁碳纳米管 (SWNTs) 的多糖水凝胶。这两种分散剂都可以将 SWNTs 分散在水溶液和水凝胶基质中，形成单个管或小束。此外，我们发现，通过添加少量重量百分比的 SWNTs，可以将水凝胶的压缩模量和应变提高多达两倍。此外，与不含 SWNTs 的藻酸盐/分散剂水凝胶相比，SWNT 掺入的水凝胶具有更低的阻抗和更高的电荷容量。OC 和 CS-A 的增强效果比市售分散剂十二烷基硫酸钠高得多。结合机械和电气性能的实验数据，OC 和 CS-A 的生物相容性为 SWNT 增强水凝胶的生物医学应用提供了可能性。
