Fabrication of Collagen-Coated Poly (beta-hydroxy butyrate-co-beta-hydroxyvalerate) Nanofiber by Chemical and Physical Methods

Tissue engineering is the design and engineering of structures to rebuild and repair damaged tissue of the body. Poly (beta-hydroxybutyrate-co-beta-hydroxyvalerate) (PHBV) scaffold has shown good biocompatibility and biodegradable properties. Nanofibers have improved the performance of biomaterials, and could be considered effective. Electro spinning is one of the most important methods of fabricating nanofibrous scaffolding. In this study, PHBV nanofibers were well designed then modified with immobilized collagen by a chemical method (glutaraldehyde) and physical method (oxygen plasma). The samples were evaluated by attenuated total reflectance-fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR), scanning electron microscope (SEM), contact angle and finally, cell culture. ATR-FTIR structural analysis showed the presence of collagen on the nanofiber surfaces both the methods. The SEM images showed the average size of nanofibers to be about 280 nm, which increased with a collagen coating up to 350-400 nm in the both methods. Contact angle analysis were 67° for uncoated nanofibers and 52-56° for coated nanofibers by the both methods. Cellular investigations (unrestricted somatic stem cells) showed better adhesion and cell growth and proliferation of coated samples by physical method than chemical method.