Hybrid Nanomaterial Scaffolds for Specific Biomedical Applications
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1237-TT05-02
Hybrid Nanomaterial Scaffolds for Specific Biomedical Applications Mandar Gadre1,2, Jianing Yang2, Frederic Zenhausern2 1 School of Materials, Ira A. Fulton School of Engineering, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA. 2 Center for Applied Nanobioscience and Medicine, College of Medicine Phoenix, University of Arizona in Partnership with Arizona State University, Phoenix, AZ, USA.
ABSTRACT Highly porous nanomaterials like aerogels, hybrid crosslinked aerogels (X-aerogels) and xerogels exhibit a broad range of tailorable properties such as the pore size, surface area, surface chemistry and mechanical strength. The versatile manufacturing route of sol-gel synthesis and various tunable properties makes aerogels and xerogels attractive candidates for biomedical applications including tissue engineering, sample collection applicators and engineered microenvironments for three-dimensional cell culture. The present study explores meso- and macroporous inorganic-organic hybrid aerogels prepared via sol-gel processing for two different applications, namely, as scaffolds for cell culture and as potential materials for sample collection applicators. INTRODUCTION Aerogels are a unique class of materials, classified as ultra low-density open-cell gelderived ceramic foams [1, 2], with fascinating properties like very low density (0.1 g/cm3), high surface area (400-800 cm2/g) and high porosity (upwards of 90%). The microstructure consists of nanometer-sized ‘primary particles’ which come together to form spherical ‘secondary particles’, in turn linked to each other by weak linkages. The strength of these linkages between the secondary particles, the size of the porosity enclosed by them and the surface chemistry can be tailored for different applications. The versatile route of sol-gel synthesis, combined with original drying techniques like the critical point drying, imparts immense flexibility to aerogels regarding the pore size, pore size distribution, surface chemistry and mechanical strength [3]. Cells in an organism are held in a complex 3-D network of Extra Cellular Matrix (ECM) and nanoscale fibers which allow the establishment of various micro-environments. Movement of cells follows chemical signals of molecular gradients in all three dimensions. Molecular gradients play a key role in biological differentiation, determination of cell fate, organ development, signal transduction, neural information transmission and numerous other biological processes. Such gradients cannot be replicated in 2-D, requiring the creation of 3-D microenvironments [4, 5]. Synthetic polymers and their copolymers have been tried out as scaffolds for 3-D cell culture. However, the size of the microfibers (~10-50 µm in diameter) is similar to most cells (~5 µm) and the pores between the microfibers are often 1000-10000 times larger than the cells, resulting in a 2-D environment for the cells. For a true 3D environment, the scaffold must consist of fibers and pores substantially smaller than the cells [6]. A high surface area to vol
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