In Vitro Study of Biocompatible Hybrid Scaffold of Polyvinyl Alcohol-Polyaniline-Nanocellulose for Tissue Engineering Applications

The development of tissue engineering techniques depends on scaffolds that combine the benefits of natural and synthetic biopolymers, which are both highly biocompatible and low-cost materials with outstanding mechanical qualities. The creation of such scaffolds could be accomplished by combining biopolymers with fillers like nanocellulose (NC). Herein, polyaniline (PANI)-polyvinyl alcohol (PVA)-NC bionanocomposites with different NC loadings were prepared using sol-gel-assisted solvent casting and characterized as prospective materials for tissue engineering applications. All three components were well miscible and mutually compatible because of hydrogen bonding interactions and the efficient dispersion of NC in the PANI-PVA matrix. Adding NC changed the morphology of PANI-PVA, increased its swelling capacity and porosity, improved its mechanical properties, decelerated biodegradation in vitro, and increased hemocompatibility in vitro to a level compliant with the ASTM 756-13 standard. The prepared bionanocomposites displayed an evident response toward both gram-positive and gram-negative bacterial strains and were thus determined to be well suited for treating wounded or infected tissues. Our findings demonstrate how the drawbacks of individual polymers (e.g., PANI and PVA) that preclude their biological applications can be mitigated via co-blending with suitable fillers such as NC.