Polycaprolactone–MXene Nanofibrous Scaffolds for Tissue Engineering

Abstract

New conductive materials for tissue engineering are needed for the development of regenerative strategies for nervous, muscular, and heart tissues. Polycaprolactone (PCL) is used to obtain biocompatible and biodegradable nanofiber scaffolds by electrospinning. MXenes, a large class of biocompatible 2D nanomaterials, can make polymer scaffolds conductive and hydrophilic. However, an understanding of how their physical properties affect potential biomedical applications is still lacking. We immobilized Ti 3 C 2 T x MXene in several layers on the electrospun PCL membranes and used positron annihilation analysis combined with other techniques to elucidate the defect structure and porosity of nanofiber scaffolds. The polymer base was characterized by the presence of nanopores. The MXene surface layers had abundant vacancies at temperatures of 305− 355 K, and a voltage resonance at 8 × 10 4 Hz with the relaxation time of 6.5 × 10 6 s was found in the 20−355 K temperature interval. The appearance of a long-lived component of the positron lifetime was observed, which was dependent on the annealing temperature. The study of conductivity of the composite scaffolds in a wide temperature range, including its inductive and capacity components, showed the possibility of the use of MXene-coated PCL membranes as conductive biomaterials. The electronic structure of MXene and the defects formed in its layers were correlated with the biological properties of the scaffolds in vitro and in bacterial adhesion tests. Double and triple MXene coatings formed an appropriate environment for cell attachment and proliferation with mild antibacterial effects. A combination of structural, chemical, electrical, and biological properties of the PCL−MXene composite demonstrated its advantage over the existing conductive scaffolds for tissue engineering.

Machine Learning Integrated Workflow for Predicting Schwann Cell Viability on Conductive MXene Biointerfaces

“…Ti 3 C 2 T x MXene nanosheets is a two-dimensional (2D) material with superior electrical conductivity (>10 5 S m –1 ) and high biocompatibility. – Ti 3 C 2 T x MXene nanosheets were synthesized by etching Ti 3 AlC 2 MAX crystals in a solution of hydrochloride acid (HCl) and lithium fluoride (LiF) followed by exfoliation (see the Experimental Section). The SEM images of the MAX crystals are shown in the inset of Figure c.…”

Fabrication of a tailor-made conductive polyaniline/ascorbic acid-coated nanofibrous mat as a conductive and antioxidant cell-free cardiac patch

“…The employment of biocompatible dopants may also lead to the incorporation of the maximum allowable dopant concentrations, present within the structure that makes it a desirable candidate for biomedical engineering approaches [24]. As shown in figure 5(a), pure PCL mats showed no significant difference in H9c2 cell viability for all time points in comparison to the control group as PCL is a biocompatible polymer with desirable physicochemical properties [79]. Therefore, it can be a desired candidate to be recruited as the template or carrier for the in-situ polymerization of PANI and investigation of PANI biocompatibility.…”

Challenges and Opportunities of Implantable Neural Interfaces: From Material, Electrochemical and Biological Perspectives

“…It has been reported that double or triple layers of MXene deposited on the target substrate can form an appropriate environment for cell attachment and proliferation with a mild antibacterial effect. [158] Additionally, nanomaterial-assisted photothermal stimulation has been demonstrated to precisely modulate cellular activity with high spatiotemporal resolution, so as to better understand the electrical communications in both health and disease. Wang et al [159] demonstrated that Ti 3 C 2 T x MXene resulted in local temperature rises of 2.31±0.03 K and 3.30±0.02 K for 635 and 808 nm laser pulses respectively, implying outstanding photothermal response (Figure 7C).…”