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As the main goal of tissue engineering (TE) is to mimic cellular microenvironments through scaffold systems, there has been growing interest in smart and functional materials, namely electroactive ones, to develop active scaffolds for TE applications since they are able to provide, apart from the structural support, the necessary biochemical and biophysical cues to cells in order to promote their growth and differentiation [1]. Currently, TE is taking advantage of ionic liquids (ILs) to develop ionic polymer-based materials with tailored piezo-ionic conductivity, suitable for muscle tissue regeneration [1,2]. Their unique properties, such as high electrochemical and thermal stability, high ionic conductivity and low vapor pressure, make ILs highly attractive for TE applications [1,2]. This work reports on the development and application of ionic electroactive materials based on piezoelectric polymers and ILs for TE. For that, biocompatible piezoeletric polymers such as poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) and its copolymer, poly(vinylidene fluoride-co-trifluoroethylene) (PVDF-TrFE), were combined with different ILs, (choline dihydrogen phosphate ([Ch][DHP]), choline bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide ([Ch][TFSI]) and choline acetate ([Chol][Ac]), and processed in the form of films by solvent casting and fibers by electrospinning up to a maximum of 20% wt. of IL content. Poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyvalerate) (PHBV) was used as well as a polymer matrix aiming to develop ionic polymer-based materials which are biocompatible and biodegradable. The morphological, physico-chemical and thermal properties of the composites were evaluated, as well as their potential use as scaffolds for TE applications. Results demonstrated that the incorporation of IL into the polymer matrix influences the microstructure, wettability, surface topography as well the thermal stability of the composites. Moreover, it was verified that, in some cases, IL incorporation affects the crystallization process of the polymer, acting as a defect during its crystallization. The noncytotoxicity of the developed ionic polymer-based materials indicates their suitability for TE applications.
[1] R.M. Meira et al., ACS Applied Polymer Materials 10, 2649-2658 (2019).
[2] D. M. Correia et al., Nanomaterials 11, 2401 (2021).
