Graphene-incorporated nanofibrous hybrid membrane with enhanced properties

• Published in: Macromolecular research Vol. 25; no. 11; pp. 1057 - 1062
• Main Authors: Shin, Ueon Sang, Park, Jeong-Soon, Oh, Jun-Sung, Lee, Eun-Jung
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Seoul The Polymer Society of Korea 01-11-2017; Springer Nature B.V; 한국고분자학회
• Subjects: Bearing strength; Biocompatibility; Biological properties; Biomedical materials; Biomolecules; Characterization and Evaluation of Materials; Chemistry; Chemistry and Materials Science; Chitosan; Complex Fluids and Microfluidics; Elongation; Graphene; In vivo methods and tests; Mechanical properties; Membranes; Nanochemistry; Nanotechnology; Physical Chemistry; Polymer Sciences; Protein adsorption; Regeneration (physiology); Silicon dioxide; Soft and Granular Matter; Sol-gel processes; Superelasticity; 고분자공학; chitosan; nanofibrous membrane; bone regeneration; graphene
• ISSN: 1598-5032; 2092-7673
• DOI: 10.1007/s13233-017-5151-4

Graphene has been highlighted as an additive material to ameliorate functions of biomaterials due to its unique structure and superelasticity. In this study, graphene at different concentration (up to 10%) was incorporated into a hybrid membrane composed of chitosan and silica xerogel to enhance the functionality of the hybrid membrane for guided bone regeneration (GBR) through
in situ
sol-gel technique. The effect of graphene incorporation was evaluated in terms of morphology, mechanical property, and biological property. In SEM observation, graphene (G)-incorporated membranes showed macroporous structure and nanofibrous microstructure which could allow protein to attach onto membrane more efficiently. The hybrid membrane containing 10% graphene was found to have highly porous and nanofibrous structure with the highest level of protein adsorption. These G-incorporated membranes also showed improved mechanical properties compared to hybrid membrane only (control) in wet state. However, the tensile strength and elongation were decreased when 10% graphene was incorporated into the hybrid membrane. Both
in vitro
and
in vivo
tests confirmed that G-incorporated membranes had similar biological properties to those of osteogenic hybrid membrane with excellent GBR ability. These findings demonstrate that proper amount of graphene could be added to hybrid membrane to increase loading capacity of biomolecules for guided bone regeneration.