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Conductive polymers have found extensive application in fuel cells, sensors and more recently as scaffolds for tissueand organ regeneration. Scaffolds that can transmit electrical impulses have been shown to be beneficial inregeneration of tissues like muscle and nerve that are electroactive in nature. Most cellular events and cellfunctions are regulated by ion movement, and their imbalance is the cause of several diseases. We report synthesisand characterization of sulfonated polymers of poly(methyl vinyl ether-alt-maleic anhydride) (PMVEMA), poly(etherether ketone) (PEEK), poly(ether sulfone) (PES) and poly(phenylene oxide) (PPO) and evaluate their potential for tis-sue regeneration. The ionic conductive property stems from the presence of sulfonic groups on the polymer back-bone. The structure of the polymer was confirmed using Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy and membranehydrophicity was determined by water contact angle measurement. The electrical conductivity of these sulfonatedmembranes was found to be 53.55, 35.39 and 29.51mS/cm for SPPO, SPEEK and SPMVEMA, respectively. Theconductivity was directly proportional to the sulfonic acid content on the polymer backbone. The ionic membranesnamely SPPO, SPEEK and SPMVEMA demonstrated superior cell adhesion properties (~7–10 fold higher) than cellsseeded onto tissue culture polystyrene. The sulfonated membranes exhibited static water contact angle in the rangeof 70–76°. The membranes supported the proliferation of human skin fibroblasts over 14days in culture asevidencedbyconfocaland electronmicroscopyimaging.Theionicmaterials reportedinthisstudymayserveasscaf-folds for a variety of tissue healing and drug delivery applications. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.Keywords: Electrically conducting polymers; Ionic conductance; Nerve regeneration; Muscle Regeneration; Biocompatibility |
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