A conductive polylactic acid/polyaniline porous scaffold via freeze extraction for potential biomedical applications

• Main Authors: Razak, S. I. A., Dahli, F. N., Wahab, I. F., Kadir, M. R. A., Muhamad, I. I., Yusof, A. H. M., Adeli, H.
• Format: Article
• Published: Taylor and Francis Inc. 2016
• Subjects: QH301 Biology
• Online Access: http://eprints.utm.my/id/eprint/74319/; https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-84964561187&doi=10.1080%2f1539445X.2016.1149078&partnerID=40&md5=30cc77f350bf9c76234a69b6eb71385a

This paper reports for the first time a simple yet effective method for fabricating a conductive and highly porous scaffold material made up of polylactic acid (PLA) and conducting polyaniline (PANI). The electrical percolation state was successfully obtained at 3 wt% of PANI inclusions and reached a conductivity level of useable tissue engineering applications at 4 wt%. In addition, preliminary bioactivity test results indicated that the protonating agent could form a chelate at the scaffold surface leading to good in-vitro apatite forming ability during biomimetic immersion. This new conductive scaffold has potential as a suitable biomedical material that requires electrical conductivity.