Conducting Polymer Scaffolds – the Technology of Preparation and Cytocompatibility

Abstract

This habilitation thesis summarises studies performed on conducting polymers, especially polyaniline and polypyrrole, during more than ten years of research. In the course of time, various procedures for polymer synthesis and a number of modification techniques were employed, giving rise to a wide variety of conducting materials or their composites. Prepared conducting polymers and their composites were deeply characterized in terms of their material properties, with special interest paid to their surface properties. The thesis also sums up unique and original results documenting improvements in the cytocompatibility of these conducting polymers and composites. Especially the composites with biopolymers are unique in terms of their cytocompatibility. The new knowledge gained in this field resulted in the preparation of cytocompatible conducting scaffolds with target applications in tissue engineering.