Preparation and characterization of self-electrical stimuli conductive gellan based nano scaffold for nerve regeneration containing chopped short spun nanofibers of PVDF/MCM41 and polyaniline/graphene nanoparticles: Physical, mechanical and morphological studies.

Conductive self -electrical stimuli bioactive scaffolds could be used the potential for peripheral nerve regeneration with the maximum efficiency. To produce such conductive self-electrical stimuli bioactive scaffolds, chopped spun piezoelectric nanofibers of polyvinylidene fluoride/mesoporous silica nanoparticle (PVDF/MCM41) are prepared and incorporated in gellan/polyaniline/graphene (gellan/PAG) nanocomposites which have been previously prepared by incorporation of polyaniline/graphene (PAG) nanoparticles in gellan gel at 80 °C. Highly conductive binary doped polyaniline/graphene nanoparticles are prepared by chemical oxidative polymerization of aniline monomer using in-suite precipitation polymerization method in presence of graphene nanoparticles and sodium dodecyl sulfate. All intermediate and final products including spun PVDF/MCM41 nanofibers, PAG nanoparticles, and gellan-gelatin gel scaffolds containing PVDF/MCM41 nano spun fibers and PAG nanoparticles are characterized using different analysis methods. Chemical and structural analyses of PAG nanoparticles and PVDF/MCM41 nanofibers have been done using FTIR and XRD methods. The morphological structure of different samples is investigated using SEM. Morphological investigation and DLS results confirm fabrication of MCM41 nanoparticle with a completely spherical shape and the average size of 50 nm of which have been dispersed in electrospun PVDF nanofibers very well. Also, the preparation of PAG nanoparticle with high conductivity is verified with morphological and conductivity tests. MTT easy and biocompatibility test results indicate potential applicability of the prepared conductive self -stimuli nano-scaffold for nerve regeneration applications.