Study of Electrospun PVDF/GO Nanofibers as a Conductive Piezoelectric Heart Patch for Potential Support of Myocardial Regeneration

Heart patches are currently being utilized to repair damaged myocardium and are a promising way to address the limitations of current therapeutic strategies. Given the electromechanical nature of cardiac tissue, conductive or piezoelectric materials are of interest to researchers. An electrospinning method is used to synthesize and evaluate polyvinylidene fluoride/graphene oxide (PVDF/GO) nanocomposites. Effects of GO concentration (0, 0.1, 0.3, 0.5, 0.7, and 1 wt%) on the main physical-mechanical characteristics of the patch are studied. Results show nanofibers containing 0.7 wt% GO with a diameter of 857 & PLUSMN; 168 nm, provide excellent tensile strength (0.51 & PLUSMN; 10.34 MPa). Fourier transform infrared and X-ray diffraction analysis confirm the increase of the & beta;-polymer phase by adding 1 wt% of GO from 63% to 86%. However, the highest output voltage in the piezoelectric shock test is recorded at 9.44 V for a concentration of 0.5 wt%, which is increased by 8.2 times compared to the neat PVDF. In addition, human umbilical vein endothelial cell culture on the electrospun patches confirmed no toxicity as well as increased cell growth and proliferation (3.4 times) over 7 d. The developed material has the potential to be utilized as a heart patch due to its promising characteristics. An electrospinning process is used to prepare polyvinylidene fluoride/graphene oxide (PVDF/GO) nanocomposite in various concentrations as a potential cardiac patch with fiber diameter in the range of 800-900 nm. PVDF's mechanical and piezoelectric properties are enhanced by the addition of GO nanosheet. Cell toxicity is not observed and cell adhesion is increased at higher concentrations of GO.image