BackgroundTissue and organ regeneration via transplantation of cell bodies in-situ has become an interesting strategy in regenerative medicine. Developments of cell carriers to systematically deliver cell bodies in the damage site have fall shorten on effectively meet this purpose due to inappropriate release control. Thus, there is still need of novel substrate to achieve targeted cell delivery with appropriate vehicles. In the present study, silicon based photovoltaic (PV) devices are used as a cell culturing substrate for the expansion of myoblast mouse cell (C2C12 cells) that offers an atmosphere for regular cell growth in vitro. The adherence, viability and proliferation of the cells on the silicon surface were examined by direct cell counting and fluorescence microscopy.ResultsIt was found that on the silicon surface, cells proliferated over 7 days showing normal morphology, and expressed their biological activities. Cell culture on silicon substrate reveals their attachment and proliferation over the surface of the PV device. After first day of culture, cell viability was 88% and cell survival remained above 86% as compared to the seeding day after the seventh day. Furthermore, the DAPI staining revealed that the initially scattered cells were able to eventually build a cellular monolayer on top of the silicon substrate.ConclusionsThis study explored the biological applications of silicon based PV devices, demonstrating its biocompatibility properties and found useful for culture of cells on porous 2-D surface. The incorporation of silicon substrate has been efficaciously revealed as a potential cell carrier or vehicle in cell growth technology, allowing for their use in cell based gene therapy, tissue engineering, and therapeutic angiogenesis.

The objective of this research is to investigate the effect of long-term exposure of plain woven 240-D S2 glass epoxy composite laminate to dry, moist and various temperature cycles. Interlaminar shear stress was evaluated to assess the delamination tolerance on both virgin (preexposed) and harsh environment-exposed composites specimens. Delamination tests were performed with the pattern of four-point bending and tensile and compression shear tests under different combinations of humidity and temperature exposure, ranging from zero to 32 weeks. During the tests, the stress at the onset of delamination was taken as the first deviation of the load-displacement curve. Experimental study revealed that the delamination load-carrying capability reduced to 40% with the exposure time. Throughout the aging process dimensional stability was almost unchanged; however, 1.29% moisture absorption was noticeable in laminated composites. Microstructures of the delaminated surface revealed that failure occurs suddenly in a macroscopically fragile mode by crack initiation and proliferation. The delamination mechanism involved interlaminar processing flaws that favored the initiation and propagation of the interlaminar cracks, which are responsible for the delamination of the composite. As load carrying capacity dwindles substantially, therefore the effect of temperature and moisture must be taken into account in the experimental characterization of the laminates when establishing a design limit for composite structure.

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