Biocompatibility of poly(lactic acid) with incorporated graphene-based materials

The incorporation of graphene-based materials has been shown to improve mechanical properties of poly(lactic acid) (PLA). In this work, PLA films and composite PLA films incorporating two graphene-based materials – graphene oxide (GO) and graphene nanoplatelets (GNP) – were prepared and characterized regarding not only biocompatibility, but also surface topography, chemistry and wettability. The presence of both fillers changed the films surface topography, increasing the roughness, and modified the wettability – the polar component of surface free energy increased 59% with GO and decreased 56% with GNP. Mouse embryo fibroblasts incubated with both fillers exceeded the IC50 in both cases with a concentration of 10 μg mL−1. No variations in cell proliferation at the surface of the composite films were observed, except for those containing GO after 24 h incubation, which presented higher cell proliferation than pristine PLA films. Platelet adhesion to PLA and PLA/GNP films was lower in the presence of plasma proteins than when no proteins were present. Furthermore, incorporation of GNP into PLA reduced platelet activation in the presence of plasma proteins.The results indicated that low concentrations of GO and GNP may be incorporated safely in PLA to improve aspects relevant for biomedical applications, such as mechanical properties.

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► GO and GNP changed PLA films surface topography and modified its wettability.
► After 24 h PLA/GO films presented higher cell proliferation than PLA films.
► No other variations in cell proliferation at films surface were observed until 72 h.
► PLA/GNP reduced platelet activation in the presence of plasma proteins.
► ≤0.4 wt.% GO and GNP may be incorporated safely in PLA to improve its properties.