McIvor Mary Josephine, Ó Maolmhuaidh Fionn, Meenagh Aidan, Hussain Shahzad, Bhattacharya Gourav, Fishlock Sam, Ward Joanna, McFerran Aoife, Acheson Jonathan G, Cahill Paul A, Forster Robert, McEneaney David J, Boyd Adrian R, Meenan Brian J
Nanotechnology and Integrated Bioengineering Centre (NIBEC), School of Engineering, Ulster University, 2-24 York Street, Belfast BT15 1AP, UK.
The National Centre for Sensor Research, School of Chemical Sciences, Dublin City University, Glasnevin, Dublin 9, Ireland.
Materials (Basel). 2022 Dec 17;15(24):9030. doi: 10.3390/ma15249030.
Polycaprolactone (PCL) is a well-established biomaterial, offering extensive mechanical attributes along with low cost, biocompatibility, and biodegradability; however, it lacks hydrophilicity, bioactivity, and electrical conductivity. Advances in 3D fabrication technologies allow for these sought-after attributes to be incorporated into the scaffolds during fabrication. In this study, solvent-free Fused Deposition Modelling was employed to fabricate 3D scaffolds from PCL with increasing amounts of graphene (G), in the concentrations of 0.75, 1.5, 3, and 6% (/). The PCL+G scaffolds created were characterised physico-chemically, electrically, and biologically. Raman spectroscopy demonstrated that the scaffold outer surface contained both PCL and G, with the G component relatively uniformly distributed. Water contact angle measurement demonstrated that as the amount of G in the scaffold increases (0.75-6% /), hydrophobicity decreases; mean contact angle for pure PCL was recorded as 107.22 ± 9.39°, and that with 6% G (PCL+6G) as 77.56 ± 6.75°. Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy demonstrated a marked increase in electroactivity potential with increasing G concentration. Cell viability results indicated that even the smallest addition of G (0.75%) resulted in a significant improvement in electroactivity potential and bioactivity compared with that for pure PCL, with 1.5 and 3% exhibiting the highest statistically significant increases in cell proliferation.
聚己内酯(PCL)是一种成熟的生物材料,具有广泛的机械性能,成本低、生物相容性好且可生物降解;然而,它缺乏亲水性、生物活性和导电性。3D制造技术的进步使得这些备受追捧的特性能够在制造过程中融入到支架中。在本研究中,采用无溶剂熔融沉积建模法,以聚己内酯为原料,添加浓度分别为0.75%、1.5%、3%和6%(/)的石墨烯(G),制备三维支架。对制备的聚己内酯+石墨烯支架进行了物理化学、电学和生物学表征。拉曼光谱表明,支架外表面同时含有聚己内酯和石墨烯,且石墨烯成分分布相对均匀。水接触角测量表明,随着支架中石墨烯含量的增加(0.75%-6%/),疏水性降低;纯聚己内酯的平均接触角记录为107.22±9.39°,含6%石墨烯的聚己内酯(PCL+6G)的平均接触角为77.56±6.75°。电化学阻抗谱表明,随着石墨烯浓度的增加,电活性电位显著增加。细胞活力结果表明,即使添加最少的石墨烯(0.75%),与纯聚己内酯相比,电活性电位和生物活性也有显著改善,1.5%和3%的石墨烯在细胞增殖方面表现出最高的统计学显著增加。