Plasma Functionalized Scaffolds of Polyhydroxybutyrate Electrospun Fibers for Pancreatic Beta Cell Cultures

Fibrous scaffolds based on biodegradable and biocompatible polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB) were produced by electrospinning. The scaffolds were coated by a thin solid film of polypyrrole, PPyI, deposited by plasma polymerization technique. FTIR and Raman spectroscopy results confirm the presence of PPyI on the PHB fibers, in FTIR can be show the signal of the NH2 groups characteristic of the polypyrrole, so Raman show a broad band due to fluorescence from the PPyI coating. The morphology of the scaffolds was characterized by scanning electron microscopy, and the average fiber diameter of PHB is (2.68 ± 1.69) μm, also the average fibers diameter of PHB-PPyI is (3.57 ± 1.36) μm, the comparation of the average fibers diameter of coated and uncoated indicates that the average PPyI coated thickness is 0.45 μm. Crystallinity of the PHB fibers was characterized by X-ray diffraction and differential scanning calorimetry, the degree of crystallinity is estimated at 70%. Pancreatic beta cells (from the RIN-M cell line) were cultured on PHB and PHB-PPyI scaffolds. Cell viability results showed that the surface modified material is a good cell culture substrate for beta cells.