Modulation of Conductivity of Alginate Hydrogels Containing Reduced Graphene Oxide through the Addition of Proteins

Abstract

Modifying hydrogels in order to enhance their conductivity is an exciting field with applications in cardio and neuro-regenerative medicine. Therefore, we have designed hybrid alginate hydrogels containing uncoated and protein-coated reduced graphene oxide (rGO). We specifically studied the adsorption of three different proteins, BSA, elastin, and collagen, and the outcomes when these protein-coated rGO nanocomposites are embedded within the hydrogels. Our results demonstrate that BSA, elastin, and collagen are adsorbed onto the rGO surface, through a non-spontaneous phenomenon that fits Langmuir and pseudo-second-order adsorption models. Protein-coated rGOs are able to preclude further adsorption of erythropoietin, but not insulin. Collagen showed better adsorption capacity than BSA and elastin due to its hydrophobic nature, although requiring more energy. Moreover, collagen-coated rGO hybrid alginate hydrogels showed an enhancement in conductivity, showing that it could be a promising conductive scaffold for regenerative medicine.

Blood-Vessel-Inspired Hierarchical Trilayer Scaffolds: PCL/Gelatin-Driven Protein Adsorption and Cellular Interaction

“…In addition, the equilibrium constant ( K 2 ) reveals an inverse dependency with the sample’s hydrophilicity, since it was found that it decreases for samples with functionalized surfaces. This has been reported previously for OCFG functionalized biomaterials [ 53 ].…”

3D Bioprinted Hydroxyapatite or Graphene Oxide Containing Nanocellulose‐Based Scaffolds for Bone Regeneration

“…As a consequence of its ability to bond with diverse biomolecules such as DNA, proteins, and antibodies, it has been used as drug delivery system, protein carrier or biosensor component. [ 29,30 ] In tissue engineering fields, it has been reported to favour osteogenic differentiation of cells and to supply the hydrogels with excellent mechanical properties. [ 17 ] In a previous study, it was concluded that the 50 µg mL −1 of GO was the best concentration for cell viability and functionality in Alg microcapsules.…”

Nanocomposite films as electrochemical sensors for detection of catalase activity

“…In the current study, mediator-less conductance measurements enabling direct comparisons with the above-mentioned were not made. Graphene oxide (GO), reduced graphene oxide (RGO) and MWCNT have been used to modulate hydrogel conductivity ( Golafshan et al, 2017 ; Liu et al, 2018 ; Serrano-Aroca et al, 2018 ; Fu et al, 2019 ; Li et al, 2019 ; McNamara et al, 2020 ; Raslan et al, 2021 ). While RGO and MWCNT are hydrophobic and GO is hydrophilic, all nanomaterials have exhibited the same level of teratogenicity in zebrafish ( Liu et al, 2014 ; Shu et al, 2020 ).…”

“…While RGO and MWCNT are hydrophobic and GO is hydrophilic, all nanomaterials have exhibited the same level of teratogenicity in zebrafish ( Liu et al, 2014 ; Shu et al, 2020 ). Relevant cyclic voltammetry studies range from optimal design of fiber-based capacitors the volumetric capacitance of MWCNT was approximately quadrupled for an RGO/MWCNT mixture (4 F cm −3 ) ( Raslan et al, 2021 ) to mediated enzymatic reactions where chitosan and graphene were blended to measure metabolic activity ( Feng and Wang, 2021 ). However, neither of the studies above emulate the nanocomposite stacking, diffusion limitations and the potassium hexacyanoferrate (II)/(III) complexes mediated conditions used in the current study.…”

“…Frontiers in Molecular Biosciences frontiersin.org Raslan et al, 2021). While RGO and MWCNT are hydrophobic and GO is hydrophilic, all nanomaterials have exhibited the same level of teratogenicity in zebrafish (Liu et al, 2014;Shu et al, 2020).…”