Graphene oxide reinforced polyvinyl alcohol/Chitosan composite hydrogel for cartilage regeneration

The progress in developing biomaterials for cartilage replacement is still not sufficient, and researchers face the challenge of developing materials that can imitate the physical, chemical, and mechanobiological characteristics of natural cartilage. In this research, the graphene oxide was blended with polyvinyl alcohol/chitosan composite to fabricate composite hydrogels (PVA/Chitosan/GO) using different concentrations of graphene oxide (0, 0.75, 1.5, 2.25, and 3 wt%). The images taken with a scanning electron microscope (SEM) displayed that adding graphene oxide affected the hydrogel structure by reducing the porosity. The composite hydrogel with 3 wt% graphene oxide exhibited the highest compressive strength of 2.15 MPa, and the storage modulus was significantly greater than that of polyvinyl alcohol/chitosan, which satisfied the application requirements. Furthermore, the composite hydrogels displayed excellent antimicrobial activity against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus bacterial species. They exhibited in vitro cell viability against L929 mouse fibroblasts, which presents the possibility of using composite hydrogel for cartilage regeneration.