Liquid crystal behavior and cytocompatibility of graphene oxide dispersed in sodium alginate solutions

Abstract

The liquid crystal (LC) behavior and cytocompatibility of a biomimetic sodium alginate (SA)/graphene oxide (GO) LC system were proven in this work. A stable, nematic LC with a highly ordered microstructure forms at a GO concentration (CGO) as low as 0.2 mg mL−1 in an alginate solution, but the CGO in aqueous solutions has usually been higher than 10 mg mL−1 in previous reports. It is the lowest filler content ever reported for the formation of LC from any colloid, arising mainly from the strong interaction of hydrogen bonds between SA macromolecules and GO sheets. The LC SA/GO system can be used as a drug carrier and tissue engineering scaffold due to the formation of a well-organized, laminated structure with larger gap between its layers after lyophilization. Hence, this work has developed a new LC system with a high degree of orientation and good cytocompatibility that can be used to imitate the desirable features and structural properties of human tissues and microenvironments, and this new LC system will be helpful in biomedical research.