Polyaniline Functionalized Peptide Self-Assembled Conductive Hydrogel for 3D Cell Culture

Abstract

The functionalization of self-assembled peptide hydrogel is of great importance to broaden its applications in the field of biomedicine. In this work, conductive hydrogel is fabricated by introducing conductive polymer polyaniline into peptide self-assembled hydrogel. Compared with pure peptide formed hydrogel, the conductive hydrogel exhibits enhanced conductivity, mechanical property and stability. In addition, the hydrogel is tested to be of great injectability and 3D bio-printability and could support the viability of encapsulated cells that are sensitive to electrical signals. It should have great application prospects in the preparation of tissue engineering scaffolds.

Keywords

• peptide
• self-assembly
• polyaniline
• conductive hydrogel
• cell culture