Gelatin-based nanofibrous electrically conductive scaffolds for tissue engineering applications

Abstract

Nanofibrous electrically conductive scaffolds based on gelatin, namely gelatin-grafted polythiophene (Gel-g-PTh) and gelatin-grafted polythiophene/poly(ε-caprolactone) (Gel-g-PTh/PCL), have been designed and fabricated using the electrospinning technique. The performances of the fabricated electrospun nanofibers as scaffolds in tissue engineering (TE) application were preliminarily investigated in terms of some physicochemical as well as biological features. The results revealed that both fabricated electrospun nanofibers have potential as scaffolds for use in TE applications that require electroactivity. It was found that the co-electrospinning of Gel-g-PTh with a small amount of PCL improves the nanofibers’ uniformity as well as some biological characteristics of the resultant scaffold.