2 research outputs found
Electrospun Polythiophene Phenylenes for Tissue Engineering
This
research focuses on the design of biocompatible materials/scaffold
suitable for use for tissue engineering. Porous fiber mats were produced
through electrospinning of polythiophene phenylene (PThP) conducting
polymers blended with polyÂ(lactide-<i>co</i>-glycolic acid)
(PLGA). A peptide containing an arginylglycylaspartic acid (RGD) fragment
was synthesized using solid phase peptide synthesis and subsequently
grafted onto a PThP polymer using azide–alkyne “click”
chemistry. The obtained RGD functionalized PThP was also electrospun
into a fiber mat. The electrospun mats’ morphology, roughness
and stiffness were studied by means of scanning electron microscopy
(SEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM) and their electroactivity
by cyclic voltammetry. The fibers show excellent cytocompatibility
in culture assays with human dermal fibroblasts-adult (HDFa) and human
epidermal melanocytes-adult (HEMa) cells. The electrospun fibers’
roughness and stiffness changed after exposing the fiber mats to the
cell culture medium (measured in dry state), but these changes did
not affect the cell proliferation. The cytocompatibility of our porous
scaffolds was established for their applicability as cell culture
scaffolds by means of investigating mitochondrial activity of HDFa
and HEMa cells on the scaffolds. The results revealed that the RGD
moieties containing PThP scaffolds hold a promise in biomedical applications,
including skin tissue engineering
Molecularly Engineered Intrinsically Healable and Stretchable Conducting Polymers
Advances
in stretchable electronics concern engineering of materials
with strain-accommodating architectures and fabrication of nanocomposites
by embedding a conductive component into an elastomer. The development
of organic conductors that can intrinsically stretch and repair themselves
after mechanical damage is only in the early stages yet opens unprecedented
opportunities for stretchable electronics. Such functional materials
would allow extended lifetimes of electronics as well as simpler processing
methods for fabricating stretchable electronics. Herein, we present
a unique molecular approach to intrinsically stretchable and healable
conjugated polymers. The simple yet versatile synthetic procedure
enables one to fine-tune the electrical and mechanical properties
without disrupting the electronic properties of the conjugated polymer.
The designed material is comprised of a hydrogen-bonding graft copolymer
with a conjugated backbone. The morphological changes, which are affected
by the composition of functional side chains, and the solvent quality
of the casting solution play a crucial role in the synthesis of highly
stretchable and room-temperature healable conductive electronic materials