Novel nanofibrous electrically conductive scaffolds based on poly(ethylene glycol)s-modified polythiophene and poly(ε-caprolactone) for tissue engineering applications

Abstract

This study explores the fabrication of electrically conductive nanofibers using electrospinning technique from AB4 miktoarm H-shaped poly(ethylene glycol)s-modified polythiophene [PEGs-b-(PTh)4] copolymers and poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL) as scaffolding biomaterials for tissue engineering (TE) applications. For this purpose, two AB4 miktoarm H-shaped conductive PEG2000-b-(PTh)4 and PEG6000-b-(PTh)4 were synthesized through the multistep process started from diepoxylated PEGs, and subsequently hydrolyzed to PEGs ends–caped tetraol [PEGs(OH)4]. Afterward, thiophene-functionalized PEGs AB4 macromonomers (ThPEGsM) were synthesized through the Steglich esterification of PEGs(OH)4 with 2-thiopheneacetic acid. The resultant macromonomers were subsequently used in chemical oxidation copolymerization with thiophene monomer to afford AB4 miktoarm H-shaped conductive polymers. The solutions of the synthesized modified conductive polymers and PCL were electrospun to produce uniform, conductive, and biocompatible nanofibers. The biocompatibilities of the fabricated nanofibers were confirmed by assessing the adhesion, viability and proliferation of human osteoblast MG-63 cells using field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) and MTT assay, respectively. According to morphology, electrical conductivity, hydrophilicity, mechanical properties as well as biological studies, the fabricated electrospun nanofibers were found as suitable scaffolds for use in TE applications that require electroactivity.