Smart Piezoelectric Nanohybrid of Poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyvalerate) and Barium Titanate for Stimulated Cartilage Regeneration

Piezoelectric materials strive to articulate smart materials and transduce electric fields by applying mechanical pressure and vice versa. This study demarcates augmented cartilage regeneration from the praxis of the smart material intervention that denotes the method of the utilized piezoelectric mechanism. The smart piezoelectric nanohybrid is developed from poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyvalerate) (PHBV) and barium titanate (BaTiO3). Further, the electrospinning technique is adopted for the scaffolding to mimic the structure of natural cartilage. The scaffold with 20% BaTiO3 shows enhanced mechanical properties and a piezoelectric coefficient (1.4 pC/N) similar to native tissue. Interestingly, the corona poled (electrically polarized) scaffolds demonstrated better cellular activity than unpoled. Human mesenchymal stem-cell-derived chondrocytes are utilized for in vitro studies. The polarized scaffolds highly promote the cell attachment, proliferation, and collagen II gene expression against control (pure PHBV) and unpolarised scaffolds; the effect was quite dominant even in high-piezoelectric-coefficient scaffolds. Therefore, the electric-field-originated scaffolds show the potential effect on cartilage regeneration without the addition of any stimulating molecules.