THE DEVELOPMENT AND CHARACTERIZATION OF COLLAGEN-POLYPYRROLE HYBRID BIOMATERIALS

Abstract

The interaction of a conducting polymer, polypyrrole, and one of its derivatives, poly[sodium 4-(3-pyrrolyl)butanesulfonate] (PSPBS), with soluble collagen and porcine pericardium has been studied. The resulting hybrids were studied by various methods of characterization. The collagen-polypyrrole hybrid is likely a polymer blend arising from the entrapment of one component in the other, whereas the collagen-PSPBS hybrid displayed evidence of some interaction between the two components, presumably via electrostatic and hydrogen bondings. In the tissue hybrids formed between porcine pericardium and the two polymers, the latter only form a black coating on the tissue without significant penetration. As in the soluble collagen case, the polypyrrole tissue hybrids apparently did not affect the tissue structure significantly as shown by differential scanning calorimetric data. On the contrary, the PSPBS tissue hybrids exhibited an observable stabilizing effect on the tissue structure.