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

Abstract

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 ± 168 nm, provide excellent tensile strength (0.51 ± 10.34 MPa). Fourier transform infrared and X-ray diffraction analysis confirm the increase of the β-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.