Electroactive polymeric nanocomposite BC-g-(Fe₃O₄/GO) materials for bone tissue engineering: in vitro evaluations

Abstract

Tissue engineering is a cutting-edge approach for using advanced biomaterials to treat defective bone to get desired clinical results. In bone tissue engineering, the scaffolds must have the desired physicochemical and biomechanical natural properties in order to regenerate complicated defective bone. For the first time, polymeric nanocomposite material was developed using cellulose and co-dispersed nanosystem (Fe₃O₄/GO) by free radical polymerization to fabricate porous polymeric scaffolds via freeze drying. Various characterizations techniques, such as Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscope (SEM)/energy dispersive X-ray (EDX), and universal testing machine (UTM) were used to investigate structural, morphological, and mechanical properties. Swelling, biodegradation, and wetting analysis were also performed to evaluate their physicochemical behavior. Intercalation of Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles into GO-sheets promoted their dispersion into the polymeric matrix. All porous scaffolds possessed a well-interconnected porous structure, while the synergistic effect of Fe₃O₄/GO reinforces the mechanical strength of porous scaffolds. The compressive strength and Young’s modulus were increased by increasing Fe₃O₄ amount, and maximum mechanical strength was found in HFG-4 and least in HFG-1. However, these porous scaffolds have different swelling and biodegradation behavior due to the variable Fe₃O₄ intercalations into GO-sheets. Antibacterial activities of porous scaffolds were studied against severe Gram-positive and Gram-negative pathogens and increased Fe₃O₄ amount in nanosystem increased the antibacterial activities. The cell viability and morphology of pre-osteoblast (MC3T3-E1) cell lines were studied against porous scaffolds and increased cell viability and proliferation were observed from HFG-1 to HFG-4. Hence, the electroactive material could be the potential material for bone tissue engineering.

Keywords:

• Porous scaffolds
• polymeric nanocomposite
• graphene oxide
• biological properties
• cell viability
• proliferation
• antibacterial activity
• tissue engineering

Disclosure statement

No conflict of interest among the authors.

Author contributions

Conceptualization, Muhammad Umar Aslam Khan; Data acquisition, Muhammad Umar Aslam Khan, and Muhammad Rizwan; Formal analysis, Muhammad Umar Aslam Khan and Muhammad Bilal; Funding acquisition, Muhammad Umar Aslam Khan, Anwarul Hassan, and Saiful Izwan Abd Razak; Methodology, Muhammad Umar Aslam Khan and Tahir Rasheed; Project administration, Muhammad Umar Aslam Khan, Saiful Izwan Abd Razak, and Anwarul Hassan; Resources, Muhammad Umar Aslam Khan, Anwarul Hassan, and Saiful Izwan Abd Razak; Software, Muhammad Umar Aslam Khan, Tahir Rasheed, and Muhammad Bilal; Supervision, Muhammad Umar Aslam Khan, Anwarul Hassan, and Saiful Izwan Abd Razak; Validation: Saiful Izwan Abd Razak, Muhammad Rizwan, and Anwarul Hassan; Visualization, Muhammad Umar Aslam Khan; Writing – original draft, Muhammad Umar Aslam Khan; Writing – review & editing, Muhammad Umar Aslam Khan.

Additional information

Funding

Open Access funding provided by the Qatar National Library. The authors would like to thank Universiti Teknologi Malaysia for research grant number 02M44 and Legasi Megajaya Sdn Bhd (M) for providing the facilities.