Panagiota Moutsatsou
Loughborough University, UK
Title: Novel electrospun composite nanofibers incorporating conducting polyaniline for wound healing applications
Biography
Biography: Panagiota Moutsatsou
Abstract
The aim of this study is to fabricate and test, as for its cellular compatibility and antibacterial activity, a composite nanofibrous membrane consisting of conducting polyaniline (PANI) and biodegradable chitosan for potential use in wound healing applications. The addition of a conducting polymer such as polyaniline is expected to broaden the utility of chitosan nanofibrous membranes, introducing the potential for electrical excitation of cells and controlled release of bioactive molecules, which is beneficial for tissue engineering applications. For that reason, camphorsulfonic acid (CSA) doped PANI was either blended into chitosan solution or grafted on the chitosan backbone in different ratios to produce composite nanofibers with the electrospinning method. The effect of different process and environmental parameters on the electrospinnability and nanofiber morphology was investigated. Humidity was determined as one of the important parameters affecting the electrospinnability of chitosan-PANI blend solutions together with the applied voltage. Chitosan grafted PANI (ChgPANI) solutions were found to be not electrospinnable throughout the range of the parameters tested in the current study. Polyaniline–chitosan blends of different ratios (1:3, 3:5 and 1:1) using trifluoroacetic acid (TFA) as common solvent, were successfully electrospun into defect-free nanofibers and waterproofed. They were characterized for their morphology, hydrophilicity/hydrophobicity, electrical conductivity and antibacterial activity. The membranes were then evaluated for their cellular biocompatibility in terms of cell attachment and morphology as well as cell proliferation. The effect of the PANI content on the membrane properties is discussed