Electrochemomechanical Behavior of Polypyrrole-Coated Nanofiber Scaffolds in Cell Culture Medium

• Main Authors: Madis Harjo, Janno Torop, Martin Järvekülg, Tarmo Tamm, Rudolf Kiefer
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2019-06-01
• Series: Polymers
• Subjects: CFS; CFS-PPyTF; linear actuation; CCM; cation driven
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4360/11/6/1043

Glucose-gelatin nanofiber scaffolds were made conductive and electroactive by chemical (conductive fiber scaffolds, CFS) and additionally electrochemical polypyrrole deposition (doped with triflouromethanesulfonate CF₃SO₃^−, CFS-PPyTF). Both materials were investigated in their linear actuation properties in cell culture medium (CCM), as they could be potential electro-mechanically activated cell growth substrates. Independent of the deposition conditions, both materials showed relatively stable cation-driven actuation in CCM, based on the flux of mainly Na⁺ ions from CCM. The surprising result was attributed to re-doping by sulfate anions in CCM, as also indicated by energy-dispersive X-ray (EDX) spectroscopy results. Overall, the electrochemically coated material outperformed the one with just chemical coating in conductivity, charge density and actuation response.