The fourth industrial revolution encompasses not only advanced production technologies, but also fields such as nanotechnology, biotechnology, and new materials. Tissue engineering, which involves using various types of fiber scaffolds to grow tissue, overlaps with three of the four fields when nanofibers are used as tissue. Due to their high surface-to-volume ratio, nanofibers are a promising area of research in this field. Biocompatibility plays a decisive role here, which is why the weakly biocompatible polyacrylonitrile (PAN) nanofibers, commonly found in current research, must be combined with biocompatible polymers such as polyethylene oxide (PEO).
Here, we investigated the influence of different molecular weights of PEO in combination with different PAN-PEO ratios on an adherent 3T3 cell line. In order not to compromise the stability of the spun nanofibers, the ratios 9:1 and 8:2 were chosen, which represent a trade-off between PEO content and fiber stability. The molecular weights investigated were 40 kDa, 300 kDa, and 1000 kDa to cover a broad range of available molecular weights. The percentage of the stained cells that grew over the surface was used as a key parameter for successful cell growth and was examined by using optical analysis. The cell growth was investigated after one, two, and three days.
The combination of a 9:1 ratio and a molecular weight of 300 kDa showed the highest percentage of growth. Further investigations with the atomic force microscope showed that the pores created by the water-soluble PEO were particularly uniform in this sample, which provided the cells with the possibility of stronger adhesion.