Abstract
The aim of this work was to develop a method for the manufacture of carbon nanofibers in the form of mats containing silicon and calcium compounds with potential biomedical application. Carbon nanofibers (ECNF) were prepared from the electrospun polyacrylonitrile (PAN) nanofibers. The electrospun polymer nanofibers were heat treated up to 1000°C to obtain carbon nanofibers. The surface of ECNF was covered with a silica-calcium sol (ECNF+Si/Ca) by dip-coating technique followed by the stabilization process. Both types of carbon nanofibers, i.e., the as-received and covered with the sol, were tested to confirm their osteoconductive properties. Biological tests were performed, including genotoxicity, cytotoxicity, and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity. Morphology of adhering cells to nanofiber surface was described. The nanofibers were subjected to a bioactivity test in contact with SBF artificial plasma. Biological tests have revealed that the nanofiber-modified ECNF+Si/Ca in contact with osteoblast cells were biocompatible, and the level of cytotoxicity was lower compared to the control. The ALP activity of the modified nanofibers was higher than nonmodified nanofibers and indicates potential applications of such carbon materials in the form of mats as a substrate for bone tissue regeneration.
Highlights
Carbon nanofibers are of interest to many fields of applications, such as energy storage, fuel cells, electronics, and catalysis, as well as in environmental protection and medicine [1,2,3,4]
It has been shown that the modified nanofibers with such treatment already after 3-day incubation in simulated body fluid (SBF) activate the deposition of hydroxyapatite much stronger as compared to the unmodified carbon nanofibers
Prolonging the incubation to 14 days makes the surface of the nanofibers completely covered with a hydroxyapatite layer of tightly adherent deposit forming a fibrous carbonceramic system with a characteristic nanotopography
Summary
Carbon nanofibers are of interest to many fields of applications, such as energy storage, fuel cells, electronics, and catalysis, as well as in environmental protection and medicine [1,2,3,4] They are a product of carbonization of polymer nanofibers, which are often electrospun in the form of mats, membranes, or threads. Polymer nanofibers due to their large specific surface resulting from high surface to volume ratio and small diameter may act as an extracellular matrix for tissue engineering Such nanofibers in the form of porous mats can be used as membranes for reconstructive medicine, as substrates for bone and cartilage development in the posttraumatic tissues [8,9,10,11,12]. In the form of Journal of Nanomaterials nonwovens, membranes, or various kinds of nanocomposites, they can be used in many fields of medicine [13,14,15,16,17,18,19]
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