Herein we report the synthesis and characterization of electro-conductive chitosan–gelatin–agar (Cs-Gel-Agar) based PEDOT: PSS hydrogels for tissue engineering. Cs-Gel-Agar porous hydrogels with 0–2.0% (v/v) PEDOT: PSS were fabricated using a thermal reverse casting method where low melting agarose served as the pore template. Sample characterizations were performed by means of scanning electron microscopy (SEM), attenuated total reflectance–Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR–FTIR), X-ray diffraction analysis (XRD) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). Our results showed enhanced electrical conductivity of the cs-gel-agar hydrogels when mixed with DMSO-doped PEDOT: PSS wherein the optimum mixing ratio was observed at 1% (v/v) with a conductivity value of 3.35 × 10−4 S cm−1. However, increasing the PEDOT: PSS content up to 1.5 % (v/v) resulted in reduced conductivity to 3.28 × 10−4 S cm−1. We conducted in vitro stability tests on the porous hydrogels using phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) solution and investigated the hydrogels’ performances through physical observations and ATR–FTIR characterization. The present study provides promising preliminary data on the potential use of Cs-Gel-Agar-based PEDOT: PSS hydrogel for tissue engineering, and these, hence, warrant further investigation to assess their capability as biocompatible scaffolds.
Scaffolds support and promote the formation of new functional tissues through cellular interactions with living cells. Various types of scaffolds have found their way into biomedical science, particularly in tissue engineering. Scaffolds with a superior tissue regenerative capacity must be biocompatible and biodegradable, and must possess excellent functionality and bioactivity. The different polymers that are used in fabricating scaffolds can influence these parameters. Polysaccharide-based polymers, such as collagen and chitosan, exhibit exceptional biocompatibility and biodegradability, while the degradability of synthetic polymers can be improved using chemical modifications. However, these modifications require multiple steps of chemical reactions to be carried out, which could potentially compromise the end product’s biosafety. At present, conducting polymers, such as poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) poly(4-styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT: PSS), polyaniline, and polypyrrole, are often incorporated into matrix scaffolds to produce electrically conductive scaffold composites. However, this will reduce the biodegradability rate of scaffolds and, therefore, agitate their biocompatibility. This article discusses the current trends in fabricating electrically conductive scaffolds, and provides some insight regarding how their immunogenicity performance can be interlinked with their physical and biodegradability properties.
Conductive polymers commonly used as fillers to enhance electrical properties of composite’s system. However, the low conductivity performance of conducting polymers, namely poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene): poly (4-styrene sulfonate) (PEDOT: PSS), constrains their utilization in the field of conductive textile technology in inventing an advanced textiles’ fabric. Maintaining the stability of impregnated PEDOT: PSS fabrics at the microscopic level remains doubtful and unclear. Nowadays, researchers are actively pursuing the introduction of secondary dopants into PEDOT: PSS dispersion to overcome this challenge. In this study, a conductive PEDOT: PSS fabric via immersion technique was prepared and its effects on conductivity upon doped-secondarily by two different dopants; hydrochloric (HCl) and p-toluenesulfonic (p-TSA) acids was revealed. The volume percentage (vol.%) of the secondary dopants (1, 3, 5, 7, 9 vol.%) were varied to find the optimal vol.% for getting the great value of conductivity of the doped PEDOT: PSS fabrics. These fabrics were then analyzed by using Attenuated Total Reflectance-Fourier Transform Infrared (ATR-FTIR), Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy (EIS), and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) to investigate their conductivity performances chemically. It is found that the conductivity values were affected by varying the strength of the acids. It is concluded, that the 7 vol.% and 5 vol.% of HCl and p-TSA, respectively, gave the highest electrical conductivity values of the PEDOT: PSS fabrics. These findings can be used to provide direction and guidance to researchers in advancing the fields of textiles, electronics and advanced materials.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.