Influence of poly(n‐isopropylacrylamide)–CNT–polyaniline three‐dimensional electrospun microfabric scaffolds on cell growth and viability

This study investigates the effect on: (1) the bulk surface and (2) the three-dimensional non-woven microfabric scaffolds of poly(N-isopropylacrylamide)–CNT–polyaniline on growth and viability of cells. The poly(N-isopropylacrylamide)–CNT–polyaniline was prepared using coupling chemistry and electrospinning was then used for the fabrication of responsive, non-woven microfabric scaffolds. The electrospun microfabrics were assembled in regular three-dimensional scaffolds with OD: 400–500 μm; L: 6–20 cm. Mice fibroblast cells L929 were seeded on the both poly(N-isopropylacrylamide)–CNT–polyaniline bulk surface as well as non-woven microfabric scaffolds. Excellent cell proliferation and viability was observed on poly(N-isopropylacrylamide)–CNT–polyaniline non-woven microfabric matrices in compare to poly(N-isopropylacrylamide)–CNT–polyaniline bulk and commercially available Matrigel™ even with a range of cell lines up to 168 h. Temperature dependent cells detachment behavior was observed on the poly(N-isopropylacrylamide)–CNT–polyaniline scaffolds by varying incubation at below lower critical solution temperature of poly(N-isopropylacrylamide). The results suggest that poly(N-isopropylacrylamide)–CNT–polyaniline non-woven microfabrics could be used as a smart matrices for applications in tissue engineering. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Biopolymers 99: 334–341, 2013.