Effects of Multi-Wall carbon Nano-Tubes (MWNTs) on structural and mechanical properties of electrospun poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) scaffold for tissue engineering applications

Abstract. The aim of this study is to evaluate the eects of Multi-Walled Carbon Nano-Tubes (MWNTs) on the structural and mechanical properties of poly-3-hydroxybutyrate (P3HB) electrospun scaolds. To achieve optimal properties of the electrospinning machine, P3HB polymer solutions were prepared at dierent concentrations and spinned in dierent electrospinning parameters. After optimization, MWNTs in dierent weight percentages (0.5%, 0.75%, 1%, and 1.25%) were added to the polymer solutions and electrospinned. The eects of MWNTs on the structure of bers were investigated using Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM), and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) techniques. The addition of MWNTs increased the average ber diameter from 210 (neat P3HB) to 700 nm at 1.25% MWNTs. In addition, SEM photomicrographs and the MATLAB software program showed an increase in porosity from 81% to 84% in the presence of MWNTs. Tensile strength of P3HB/MWNTs composites revealed 158% improvement over pure P3HB scaold. According to mechanical and structural properties, the best amount of MWNTs was 0.5wt%. Therefore, MWNTs with low percentages can signicantly improve the mechanical properties of pure P3HB scaold, so that they can become favorable mechanically for tissue engineering applications.