Electrically conductive polymers and composites for biomedical applications

Abstract

This paper provides a review of the recent advances made in the field of electroactive polymers and composites for biomedical applications.

The Effects of Electrical Stimulation Mediated by Conductive Polymer on Hypothalamic Neurons as a Potential Model of Schizophrenia

“…Furthermore, the unique mechanical, electrical and chemical properties of CPs, which may be further enhanced with dopants, make these materials attractive for biomedical applications, such as tissue engineering, drug delivery and biosensors [2][3].…”

“…Furthermore, the unique mechanical, electrical and chemical properties of CPs, which may be further enhanced with dopants, make these materials attractive for biomedical applications, such as tissue engineering, drug delivery and biosensors [2][3].The past decade has shown a resurgence of interest in electrical stimulation therapies, such as deep brain stimulation and transcranial direct current stimulation, for the treatment of schizophrenia (Sz). Sz is a debilitating, neurodevelopmental psychiatric disorder, affecting ~1% of the population worldwide, with high morbidity rate and no curative treatment for the Sz-induced cognitive deficits to date [4].…”

Synthetic Strategies towards Silica/Poly (Acrylamide-Co-Acrylic Acid) Composites

“…Although the composites strategy is useful for the design of relatively hard functional materials, it is not simple to recognize soft composite materials because of the strong interactions at the interface that decrease the polymer chain mobility [2]. A successful way to improve mechanical properties of a polymer is to create their composites or blend with other polymers that have better mechanical properties for the intended applications [3]. Schmidt et al synthesised conductive composites of polymer using the biologically active polysaccharide hyaluronic acid (HA) as the dopant in order to create biomaterials for tissue engineering and wound-healing applications [4].…”

Nature-inspired thermo-responsive multifunctional membrane adaptively hybridized with PNIPAm and PPy

“…[24][25][26] However, CPs are difficult to further modify after synthesis using post-processing methods, because they are normally non-thermoplastic, mechanically rigid and insoluble. 22,27 To improve the performance of CPs, a diverse set of architectures have been adopted and applied, because well-defined architectures are highly important in materials science, nanotechnology and bioengineering. 19,[28][29][30] However, direct and precise patterning of various architectures is still a major challenge because the conventional technologies that are used to produce designed polymers have poor reproducibility and involve multiple fabrication steps, which makes the process expensive, time-consuming and difficult to scale-up.…”