Cellulose Composites with Graphene for Tissue Engineering Applications

Abstract

Tissue engineering is an interdisciplinary field that combines principles of engineering and life sciences to obtain biomaterials capable of maintaining, improving, or substituting the function of various tissues or even an entire organ. In virtue of its high availability, biocompatibility and versatility, cellulose was considered a promising platform for such applications. The combination of cellulose with graphene or graphene derivatives leads to the obtainment of superior composites in terms of cellular attachment, growth and proliferation, integration into host tissue, and stem cell differentiation toward specific lineages. The current review provides an up-to-date summary of the status of the field of cellulose composites with graphene for tissue engineering applications. The preparation methods and the biological performance of cellulose paper, bacterial cellulose, and cellulose derivatives-based composites with graphene, graphene oxide and reduced graphene oxide were mainly discussed. The importance of the cellulose-based matrix and the contribution of graphene and graphene derivatives fillers as well as several key applications of these hybrid materials, particularly for the development of multifunctional scaffolds for cell culture, bone and neural tissue regeneration were also highlighted.

Nanocellulose-Based Scaffolds for Chondrogenic Differentiation and Expansion

“…A relevant collection of cells (stem cells, differentiated cells) serves as the second element while appropriate signals such as chemical mediators (vitamins, amino acids, hormones, growth factors, cytokines, and active drugs), mechanical (compression or pressure), and physicochemical factors (oxidative stress, carbon dioxide concentration, etc.) are the third component which affects cell viability and growth (James and Laurencin, 2014;Oprea and Voicu, 2020). A novel material-based regenerative approach relies solely on the chemical and physical properties of the scaffold to guide tissue regeneration (i.e., without exogenous growth factors) (Almouemen et al, 2019).…”

Graphene-based composite membranes for nanofiltration: performances and future perspectives

“…All membranes for ultrafiltration are the basis of most complex systems for controlled release of drugs (many of them already commercial), and in bone regeneration [7]. Also, there are commercially available variants, especially for use in dentistry or membranes used in tissue engineering [8][9][10]. In addition to conventional filtration processes based on dimensional discrimination, some niche applications have appeared over time, for example, reactive retention (the species of separation chemically interact with the surface of the membrane, with applications in chiral separations) [11,12], molecular impregnated membranes (which can separate a single compound, regardless of optical isomery, from a mixture however complex), or separations in the magnetic field.…”

A Novel Generation of Polysulfone/Crown Ether-Functionalized Reduced Graphene Oxide Membranes with Potential Applications in Hemodialysis

“…Graphene oxide (GO) is a highly oxidized form of graphene which contains carboxylic groups on the edges and hydroxyl and epoxide groups on the basal plane. These oxygen-containing groups increase the interplanar distance and provide a hydrophilic character to the carbon layers, thus favoring dispersion in water, organic solvents or different polymeric matrices [ 45 , 46 ]. Graphene oxide also presents attractive adsorbent properties due to the interactions that can occur between the negatively charged carboxylic groups and conjugated C−C bond in GO’s structure and the positively charged metal ions in the surrounding environment [ 47 , 48 ].…”