Preparation of carbon-based conductive hydrogels and their potential for promoting nerve regeneration

IF 23.2 2区材料科学 Q1 MATERIALS SCIENCE, COMPOSITES

Advanced Composites and Hybrid Materials Pub Date : 2025-02-24 DOI:10.1007/s42114-025-01261-w

Shuhui Yang, Jie Pan, Haijing Fu, Jingchuan Zheng, Fang Chen, Mingchen Zhang, Zhe Gong, Kaiyu Liang, Chengcheng Wang, Juncheng Lai, Xiangqian Fang, Jinjin Zhu

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Conductive hydrogels have the potential to facilitate nerve regeneration through various mechanisms, including providing physical support, enabling electrical signal transmission, and stimulating nerve cells to release growth factors. Carbon-based conductive materials, such as carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and graphene oxide (GO), are widely used in the construction of conductive hydrogels due to their advantages in electrical conductivity and biosafety. Herein, we fabricated conductive hydrogels by incorporating CNTs or GO into gelatin or chitosan. The gelatin- and chitosan-based electrospun fiber hydrogels were synthesized at room temperature using acetic acid/hexafluoroisopropanol and acetic acid/water as solvents, respectively. Subsequently, we investigated the morphology, swelling properties, mechanical properties, and electrical performance of the hydrogels. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images verified the uniform distribution of CNTs and GO within the different hydrogel formulations. The network structure formed by CNTs enhanced the swelling rate of the hydrogels. The incorporation of CNTs and GO elevated the compression elastic moduli of the hydrogels. Conductivity experiments revealed that the conductivity of graphene oxide was significantly improved upon soaking with sodium ascorbate. Notably, chitosan hydrogels containing reduced graphene oxide exhibited the highest conductivity. Pheochromocytoma 12 (PC12) cells could adhere to and spread on the hydrogels surface. These findings suggest that conductive hydrogels hold great promise as candidates for nerve repair in the future.

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来源期刊

Advanced Composites and Hybrid Materials Multiple-

CiteScore

26.00

自引率

21.40%

发文量

185

期刊介绍： Advanced Composites and Hybrid Materials is a leading international journal that promotes interdisciplinary collaboration among materials scientists, engineers, chemists, biologists, and physicists working on composites, including nanocomposites. Our aim is to facilitate rapid scientific communication in this field. The journal publishes high-quality research on various aspects of composite materials, including materials design, surface and interface science/engineering, manufacturing, structure control, property design, device fabrication, and other applications. We also welcome simulation and modeling studies that are relevant to composites. Additionally, papers focusing on the relationship between fillers and the matrix are of particular interest. Our scope includes polymer, metal, and ceramic matrices, with a special emphasis on reviews and meta-analyses related to materials selection. We cover a wide range of topics, including transport properties, strategies for controlling interfaces and composition distribution, bottom-up assembly of nanocomposites, highly porous and high-density composites, electronic structure design, materials synergisms, and thermoelectric materials. Advanced Composites and Hybrid Materials follows a rigorous single-blind peer-review process to ensure the quality and integrity of the published work.