Synthesis and characterization of porous, electro-conductive chitosan–gelatin–agar-based pedot: Pss scaffolds for potential use in tissue engineering

• Main Authors: Ahmad Ruzaidi, D.A (Author), Aizamddin, M.F (Author), Azman, H.H (Author), Chang, Y.H.R (Author), Hamzah, H.H (Author), Jantan, K.A (Author), Mahat, M.M (Author), Mohamed Sofian, Z. (Author), Nawawi, M.A (Author), Nor Hashim, N.A (Author), Osman, H. (Author), Ramli, R. (Author)
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI 2021
• Series: Polymers
• Subjects: Algae; Attenuated total reflectance; Biocompatibility; Biocompatible scaffolds; Chitosan; Conducting polymers; Dimethyl sulfoxide; Electrical conductivity; Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy; Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy; FT-IR characterization; Hydrogels; PEDOT: PSS; Phosphate buffered saline solutions; Porous hydrogels; Scaffold; Scaffolds (biology); Scanning electron microscopy; Synthesis and characterizations; Tissue; Tissue engineering; X ray powder diffraction; X-ray diffraction analyses (XRD)
• Online Access: View Fulltext in Publisher; View in Scopus

 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 hy-drogels 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 investi-gated 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. © 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.