Conductive polymers: Towards a smart biomaterial for tissue engineering

Abstract

Developing stimulus-responsive biomaterials with easy-to-tailor properties is a highly desired goal of the tissue engineering community. A novel type of electroactive biomaterial, the conductive polymer, promises to become one such material. Conductive polymers are already used in fuel cells, computer displays and microsurgical tools, and are now finding applications in the field of biomaterials. These versatile polymers can be synthesised alone, as hydrogels, combined into composites or electrospun into microfibres. They can be created to be biocompatible and biodegradable. Their physical properties can easily be optimized for a specific application through binding biologically important molecules into the polymer using one of the many available methods for their functionalization. Their conductive nature allows cells or tissue cultured upon them to be stimulated, the polymers' own physical properties to be influenced post-synthesis and the drugs bound in them released, through the application of an electrical signal. It is thus little wonder that these polymers are becoming very important materials for biosensors, neural implants, drug delivery devices and tissue engineering scaffolds. Focusing mainly on polypyrrole, polyaniline and poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene), we review conductive polymers from the perspective of tissue engineering. The basic properties of conductive polymers, their chemical and electrochemical synthesis, the phenomena underlying their conductivity and the ways to tailor their properties (functionalization, composites, etc.) are discussed.

Conductive gelatin methacrylate-poly(aniline) hydrogel for cell encapsulation

“…[4,5] However, the electrically nonconductive nature of hydrogels impedes its use for excitable cells such as neural, skeletal and cardiac muscle, and bone cells. [6,7] To extend the utility of hydrogels, conducting 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 3 elements like metallic nanoparticles [8][9][10][11][12][13][14] and inherently conductive polymers (IHPs) [6,[15][16][17][18][19] have been incorporated within hydrogel matrices in order to add conductive properties to the 3D microenvironments.…”

“…[6] Additionally, PANi has favorable properties to researchers such as low cost, ease of synthesis, and the ability to electrically switch between resistive and conductive states. Studies involving PANi have been extensively centered around the seeding of cells on pre-fabricated PANi films, as synthesis of 2D thin films can be processed quite easily with current manufacturing methods such as inkjet printing, casting, self-assembly, and electrospinning.…”

Incorporation of Conductive Materials into Hydrogels for Tissue Engineering Applications

“…Among the various biomaterials, a conductive hydrogel is one of the most effective materials to replicate the electrical and biological characteristics of biological tissues that require most of the conductivity [2][3][4]. The advantage of a conductive hydrogel is that it can provide both physical and electrical properties, where the former is the unique property of the hydrogel and the latter is the conductivity performed by the conductive materials [2,5].…”

A new biocatalyst employing pyrenecarboxaldehyde as an anodic catalyst for enhancing the performance and stability of an enzymatic biofuel cell

“…To enhance the electron transfer, the following materials are currently being studied: (i) electron conductors such as metal nanoparticles, (ii) carbon nanotubes (CNTs) as supporter materials and (iii) conductive polymers as entrapment agents. 16,17 However, because the active sites (flavin adenine dinucleotides (FADs)) of GOx are located deep inside shells consisting of proteins that prevent electron transfer, the conventional immobilization methods are limited, and it is difficult to improve the electron transfer in GOx-based catalytic structures. 18 To achieve the facile electron transfer and immobilize large amounts of GOx, this study suggests adopting a new material: pyrenecarboxaldehyde (PCA).…”