Dept. of Biomaterials Science and Technology, University of Twente, Enschede, The Netherlands.
Biomed Mater. 2019 Mar 7;14(3):034101. doi: 10.1088/1748-605X/ab0269.
Graphene-graft-polymer has been used to improve the compatibility between graphene and a polymer matrix, and to further enhance electrical, mechanical and biological properties of polymer/graphene composites. In this study, poly(trimethylene carbonate) (PTMC) was successfully grafted onto graphene surface via 'grafting from' method. Reduced graphene oxide (rGO) initiator was synthesized by azido ethanol reaction with graphene oxide (GO) at high temperature. This resulted in thermal reduction of the GO and stable hydroxyl groups on the graphene surface. Subsequently, rGO initiator was used for the ring-opening polymerization of TMC monomer. rGO-graft-PTMC composites with PTMC molecular weights of 430, 480, 2150 and 7030 g mol were successfully synthesized using different amounts of TMC. Single layer graphene nanosheets remained after graft polymerization by this method. rGO-graft-PTMC dispersions in chloroform were stable. The rGO-graft-PTMC composites with PTMC molecular weights of 430-7030 g mol had electrical conductivities ranging from 0.2 to 0.016 s cm. To investigate the biocompatibility of rGO-graft-PTMC, PTMC-based films containing rGO-graft-PTMC were prepared and used in cell culturing experiments. The composite films showed good biocompatibility with PC12 neuronal cells. It is concluded that rGO-graft-PTMC composite is a promising material for the preparation of nerve regeneration conduits.
通过“从”接枝法将聚（三亚甲基碳酸酯）（PTMC）成功接枝到石墨烯表面，以改善石墨烯与聚合物基体的相容性，并进一步提高聚合物/石墨烯复合材料的电、机械和生物性能。氧化石墨烯（GO）与叠氮化乙醇在高温下反应合成了还原氧化石墨烯（rGO）引发剂，这导致 GO 的热还原和石墨烯表面稳定的羟基。随后，rGO 引发剂用于开环聚合 TMC 单体。使用不同量的 TMC 成功合成了具有 430、480、2150 和 7030 g/mol 的 PTMC 分子量的 rGO-接枝-PTMC 复合材料。通过这种方法接枝聚合后仍保持单层石墨烯纳米片。rGO-接枝-PTMC 在氯仿中的分散体是稳定的。rGO-接枝-PTMC 复合材料具有 430-7030 g/mol 的 PTMC 分子量，电导率范围为 0.2-0.016 s/cm。为了研究 rGO-接枝-PTMC 的生物相容性，制备了含有 rGO-接枝-PTMC 的 PTMC 基膜，并用于细胞培养实验。复合膜对 PC12 神经元细胞表现出良好的生物相容性。综上所述，rGO-接枝-PTMC 复合材料是制备神经再生导管的有前途的材料。
