The preparation and characterization of polycaprolactone/graphene oxide biocomposite nanofiber scaffolds and their application for directing cell behaviors

Biocomposite nanofiber scaffolds of polycaprolactone (PCL) with different graphene oxide (GO) concentrations were prepared using electrospinning technology. The successful incorporation of GO nanosheets into PCL polymer nanofibers improved the thermal and mechanical properties of the nanofibers because of the intrinsic properties developed due to the interactions of GO and PCL. In order to estimate the biocompatibility of PCL/GO composite scaffolds, mouse marrow mesenchymal stem cells (mMSCs) and low-differentiated rat pheochromocytoma (PC12-L) cells were cultured. Initial adhesion and spreading of the mMSCs and PC12-L cells on PCL/GO composite scaffolds with moderate addition of GO (0.3 and 0.5 wt%) were significantly superior to those on pure PCL scaffolds, and the cells exhibited typical fibroblast- and neuron-like morphologies with obvious pseudopods and mature appearance, respectively. A small amount of GO did not restrain the proliferation and viability of the mMSCs and PC12-L cells, which indicated appreciable cell affinity of GO. Moreover, the hybridization of GO nanosheets and PCL polymer dramatically enhanced the differentiation of the mMSCs and PC12-L cells into osteo- and neuro-like cells, respectively. All these results suggest that PCL/GO composite nanofibers could be a promising alternative material as biocompatible scaffolds for tissue engineering.