Conductive polyurethane/PEGylated graphene oxide composite for 3D-printed nerve guidance conduits

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Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
A1 Alkuperäisartikkeli tieteellisessä aikakauslehdessä
Date
2022-03-15
Major/Subject
Mcode
Degree programme
Language
en
Pages
11
Series
European Polymer Journal, Volume 167
Abstract
Conductive polymeric nanocomposites have made significant contributions in nerve regeneration. To this aim, the best results are obtained by using nerve guidance conduits (NGCs) with conductive, bio-compatible, bio-degradable tubes as well as special topographical features. In this study, biodegradable, conductive, solvent-free polyurethane/PEGylated graphene oxide (PU/PEG-GO) composites were synthesized and successfully 3D printed into flexible nerve conduits with different precise geometries, such as hollow, porous, and grooved tubes, using stereolithography. The composite containing 5% PEG-GO showed the highest tensile stress (3.51 ± 0.54 MPa), tensile strain at break (∼170%), and conductivity (1.1 × 10−3 S/cm) with the lowest contact angle of 72° attributing to the strong interfacial interactions between PEG-GO nanosheets and the PU matrix. Moreover, the PU/PEG-GO 5% exhibited higher compression strength compared with pure PU and showed appropriate enzymatic degradation after 6 weeks, which is expected to last sufficiently for an efficient nerve regeneration. Altogether the 3D-printed, conductive, biodegradable, and flexible PU/PEG-GO 5% conduit with precise geometry has potential as NGCs for peripheral nerve regeneration.
Description
Funding Information: The authors would like to thank the Magnus Ehrnrooth Foundation, Finnish Cultural Foundation, and Academy of Finland No. 307485 (3D-Biomat) for providing funding for this project. This work made use of the BIOECONOMY infrastructure at Aalto University. Publisher Copyright: © 2022
Keywords
3D printing, Graphene oxide, Nerve regeneration, Solvent-free polyurethane, Stereolithography
Other note
Citation
Farzan, A, Borandeh, S & Seppälä, J 2022, ' Conductive polyurethane/PEGylated graphene oxide composite for 3D-printed nerve guidance conduits ', European Polymer Journal, vol. 167, 111068 . https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eurpolymj.2022.111068