Modification of porous polyethylene scaffolds for cell attachment and proliferation

Poulomi Sengupta, Sachin S Surwase, Bhagavatula LV Prasad Physical Chemistry Division, CSIR–National Chemical Laboratory, Pune, India Abstract: Synthetic polymers are widely researched for their use in tissue engineering. Control in size, surface area, pore size, and elasticity are the biggest advantages of using a man-made polymer. However, often the polymers are hydrophobic (do not encourage cell attachment); hence, it is hugely challenging to integrate them with the normal tissues. Herein, we have tried to overcome this disadvantage of polymers by coating them with citrate-stabilized gold nanoparticles and arginine. High-density polyethylene, upon multiple treatments, shows low water contact angle, which encourages cell attachment and proliferation in comparison to the untreated polymers. Keywords: tissue engineering, gold nanoparticle, HDPE hydrophilicity