Author(s): Hermenegildo, Bruno Filipe Costa ; Correia, Daniela Maria Silva ; Ribeiro, Clarisse Marta Oliveira ; Serra, J. P. ; Pérez, L. ; Vilas-Vilela, José L. ; Lanceros-Méndez, S.
Date: 2022
Persistent ID: https://hdl.handle.net/1822/82090
Origin: RepositóriUM - Universidade do Minho
Subject(s): Electrospun membranes; Magnetic and ionic materials; Poly(vinylidene fluoride); Tissue engineering
Electrospun membranes play an increasing role in tissue regeneration base on their suitable morphological features. The implementation of active response, such as magnetically responsiveness or piezo-ionic features can further improve tissue regeneration by better resembling varying microenvironment during cell culture. In this context, this work reports on the development of poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) oriented (O) and randomly (R) oriented electrospun fibers containing different amounts of iron oxide nanoparticles (Fe3O4, NP) or ionic liquid (IL) choline bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl) imide ([Chol][TFSI]) (5, 10 and 15% wt.). The addition of the fillers did not result in significant differences in the morphology of the electrospun fibers or their degradation temperature. PVDF-O+IL fibers present diameters between 0.98 and 1.28 µm, crystallinity between 52 and 59% and electroactive PVDF β-phase content between 73 and 88%. PVDF-R + IL fiber diameter ranges from 1.29 to 1.97 µm, crystallinity between 46 and 55% and β-phase content between 79-82%. The PVDF-O+Fe3O4 fiber diameter varied between 0.81 and 1.07 µm, crystallinity between 48 and 59% and β-phase between 73 and 81%. The effective NP content in the fibers followed a nearly-linear relation with the theoretical values, with experimental yields between 93-97%. Further, the inclusion of IL into PVDF matrix leads to an increase of the ionic conductivity up to 2.6×10-9 S.cm-1 for the sample with 15% IL content. Finally, the potential of the materials for tissue engineering was evaluated, by analyzing its cytotoxicity for L929 fibroblasts, with cell viability results of over 90% indicating the cytocompatibility of these materials
