Versatile Fabrication Approach of Conductive Hydrogels via Copolymerization with Vinyl Monomers

Authors

Lin Jiang, University of New South Wales
Carmine Gentile, University of Sydney
Antonio Lauto, Western Sydney UniversityFollow
Chen Cui, University of New South Wales
Yihui Song, University of New South Wales
Anthony C. Romeo, University of WollongongFollow
Saimon M. Silva, University of New South Wales
Owen Tang, University of Sydney
Poonam Sharma, University of Sydney
Gemma Figtree, University of Sydney
J Justin Gooding, University of New South WalesFollow
Damia Mawad, University of New South WalesFollow

RIS ID

118173

Publication Details

Jiang, L., Gentile, C., Lauto, A., Cui, C., Song, Y., Romeo, T., Silva, S. M., Tang, O., Sharma, P., Figtree, G., Gooding, J. Justin. & Mawad, D. (2017). Versatile Fabrication Approach of Conductive Hydrogels via Copolymerization with Vinyl Monomers. ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces, 9 (50), 44124-44133.

Abstract

Functionalized poly(ethylene dioxythiophene) (f-PEDOT) was copolymerized with two vinyl monomers of different hydrophilicity, acrylic acid and hydroxyethyl methacrylate, to produce electroconductive hydrogels with a range of physical and electronic properties. These hydrogels not only possessed tailored physical properties, such as swelling ratios and mechanical properties, but also displayed electroactivity dependent on the chemical composition of the network. Raman spectroscopy indicated that the functional PEDOT in the hydrogels is in an oxidized form, most likely accounting for the good electrochemical response of the hydrogels observed in physiological buffer. In vitro cell studies showed that cardiac cells respond differently when seeded on hydrogel substrates with different compositions. This study presents a facile approach for the fabrication of electroconductive hydrogels with a range of properties, paving the way for scaffolds that can meet the requirements of different electroresponsive tissues.