P3HT‐Based Electroactive Films for In Vitro Neuronal Cell Interfacing

Advanced Materials Interfaces, vol. 12

Abstract

Abstract Numerous efforts have been made to address the mechanical mismatch between bioelectronic devices and tissues in the past few years. Interfaces that better mimic the properties of biological tissues can be produced with the support of organic materials, which have a unique combination of soft mechanical properties, biocompatibility, and ionic‐electronic conduction, which match the properties of living systems and allow the signal to be transduced at the biotic–abiotic interface. In this context, Poly(3‐hexylthiophene) (P3HT), a p‐type semiconducting polymer, having good biocompatibility, electrical conductivity, and mechanical properties, is studied. In this work, a polymer blend of P3HT and multi‐walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNT) is prepared and deposited on the surface as an electroactive thin film resulting in a tunable nanostructured surface. Further, the biological properties of this new substrate in vitro is evaluated. The conductive polymer‐based substrate and the HT‐22 cell line can be better connected because of this nanostructured surface effect on the cells' responses to local changes in curvature and topography of the materials. This model is simple yet effectively shows the investigation of neuronal responses to morphological characteristics and electronic interfaces.

Authors 5

1. Paola Campione

   University of Catania

   Affiliation as printed

   Laboratory for Molecular Surface and Nanotechnology (LAMSUN) Department of Chemical Sciences University of Catania and CSGI Viale A. Doria, 6 Catania 95125 Italy

   Laboratory for Molecular Surface and Nanotechnology (LAMSUN), Department of Chemical Sciences, University of Catania and CSGI, Viale A. Doria, 6, Catania, 95125 Italy

2. Claudia Latte Bovio

   Italian Institute of Technology · University of Naples Federico II

   Affiliation as printed

   Dipartimento di Chimica, Materiali e Produzione Industriale Università di Napoli Federico II Naples 80125 Italy

   Tissue Electronics Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia Naples 80125 Italy

   Tissue Electronics, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Naples, 80125 Italy

3. Giovanna Calabrese

   University of Messina

   Affiliation as printed

   Department of Chemical Biological Pharmaceutical and Environmental Sciences (ChiBioFarAm) University of Messina Messina 98166 Italy

   Department of Chemical, Biological, Pharmaceutical and Environmental Sciences (ChiBioFarAm), University of Messina, Messina, 98166 Italy

4. Francesca Santoro corresponding Aachen Faculty of Electrical Engineering and IT

   Forschungszentrum Jülich · Italian Institute of Technology · RWTH Aachen University

   Affiliation as printed

   Faculty of Electrical Engineering and IT RWTH Aachen 52074 Aachen Germany

   Institute for Biological Information Processing‐Bioelectronics Forschungszentrum Jülich 52428 Jülich Germany

   Tissue Electronics Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia Naples 80125 Italy

   Faculty of Electrical Engineering and IT, RWTH Aachen, 52074 Aachen, Germany

   Tissue Electronics, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Naples, 80125 Italy

5. Grazia M. L. Messina corresponding

   University of Catania

   Affiliation as printed

   Laboratory for Molecular Surface and Nanotechnology (LAMSUN) Department of Chemical Sciences University of Catania and CSGI Viale A. Doria, 6 Catania 95125 Italy

   Laboratory for Molecular Surface and Nanotechnology (LAMSUN), Department of Chemical Sciences, University of Catania and CSGI, Viale A. Doria, 6, Catania, 95125 Italy