Porous Scaffolds Made From Starch Nanoparticle-Stabilized Medium Internal Phase Emulsion Polymerization: Effect of Pore Size and Polyaniline on Cell Growth

Polymeric three-dimensional (3D) porous scaffolds were prepared through medium internal phase emulsion (MIPE) templating. Their potential applicability as substrates for culturing human breast cancer (MCF-7) cells and human neuroblastoma (SH-SY5Y) cells was investigated. The crosslinked starch nanoparticle-stabilized oil-in-water MIPEs containing acrylamide/methylenebisacrylamide/poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) in the continuous phase cured in 1 and 6 h to produce 3D porous scaffolds called, respectively, PolyMIPE-SP and PolyMIPE-SP after the removal of the internal oil phase. Field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) micrographs revealed uniform interconnected porous structures with average pore sizes of 46.74 and 7.13 μm for PolyMIPE-LP and PolyMIPE-SP, respectively. Cell viability and cell culture studies exhibited that the biocompatibility, proliferation, and growth of SH-SY5Y and MCF-7 cells on PolyMIPE-LP were better than those on PolyMIPE-SP due to the proper placement of cells in large pores. Then, deposited conductive polyaniline (PANI) nanoparticles on the pore surface of PolyMIPE-LP induced a rough surface with a nanoprotrusion structure and balanced hydrophobicity/hydrophilicity, enhancing cell growth in the scaffold. The cyclic voltammograms revealed that the conductivity of PolyMIPE-LP/PANI scaffolds depends directly on the swelling degree of the scaffold. Consequently, these findings make PolyMIPE-LP/PANI a suitable bioactive substrate for electroactive cell studies, chemo-photothermal therapy of cancer cells, and drug testing platforms.