Studying the Potential Application of Electrospun Polyethylene Terephthalate/Graphene Oxide Nanofibers as Electroconductive Cardiac Patch

Abstract

Nowadays, engineering‐based cardiac patches aim to accelerate cardiac regeneration in myocardial infarcted tissues. Considering the fundamental role of cardiac electrophysiology in myocardial function, this study aims to investigate graphene oxide (GO) incorporation in the polyethylene terephthalate (PET) nanofibrous scaffold, as a conductive cardiac patch. The PET/GO nanocomposites are prepared using the uniaxial nozzle and coaxial nozzle electrospinning processes and comprehensively evaluated. The morphological observation indicates a uniform beaded free morphology with an average diameter of 147 ± 38 and 253 ± 67 nm for solid and core–shell nanocomposite fibers, respectively. Addition of GO to the PET nanofibers in a concentration of 0.05 wt% remarkably increases the Young modulus of mats from 30 ± 0.03 to 60 ± 0.02 and 69 ± 0.08 MPa for solid and core–shell nanofibers, respectively. Also, the electroconductivity is improved from 0.7 × 10−6 to 1.175 × 10−6 and 1.3 × 10−6 S cm−1 for solid and core–shell nanofibers, which are in the range of cardiac electroactivity values. PET/GO substrate interestingly supports human umbilical vein endothelial cells’ spreading morphology and cardiomyocyte elongated morphology, mainly where the GO nanosheets are distributed near the surface of nanofibers. In conclusion, the core–shell electrospun PET/GO nanocomposite fibers are suggested as a potential electroactive cardiac patch to improve cardiac cell attachment and proliferation.

Electrospun polyethylene terephthalate (PET) nanofibrous conduit for biomedical application

“…Although excellent biostability and biocompatibility of PET, a Food and Drug Administration (FDA)‐approved polymer, make it one of the prominent choices for vascular substitution, PET grafts such as Dacron undergo permanent deformation exposing to sustained loads, which constraint their long‐term durability in blood vessels where the shape maintenance is required for proper function . To address this challenge, electrospun PET, in particular, has attracted lots of attention regarding its biostability and tunable mechanical properties to achieve adequate stiffness and strength required for vascular grafts …”

Graphene-Based Scaffolds: Fundamentals and Applications for Cardiovascular Tissue Engineering

“…Graphene-containing 3D scaffolds can also be fabricated by electrospinning to develop the scaffolds with enhanced mechanical and electrical properties ( Zhao et al, 2018 ; Chen et al, 2019 ; Ghasemi et al, 2019 ).…”

Conductive Electrospun Nanofiber Mats

“…PCL/PAni scaffolds with conductivities up to approximately 80 µS/cm were used by Garrudo et al for the cultivation of neural stem cells, showing that the typical cell morphology was retained, and the nanofiber mats were biocompatible [34]. Even lower values of approximately 1 µS/cm were reported by Ghasemi et al who doped electrospun polyethylene terephthalate (PET) nanofibers with graphene oxide to prepare cardiac patches for cardiac regeneration after myocardial infarcts [73]. For the same purpose, Walker et al suggested using electrospun gelatin methacryloyl with bio-ionic liquid to combine adhesive and conductive properties [74].…”