Porous Scaffolds Made From Starch Nanoparticle‐Stabilized Medium Internal Phase Emulsion Polymerization: Effect of Pore Size and Polyaniline on Cell Growth

ABSTRACT Polymeric three‐dimensional (3D) porous scaffolds were prepared through medium internal phase emulsion (MIPE) templating. Their potential applicability as substrates for culturing human breast cancer (MCF‐7) cells and human neuroblastoma (SH‐SY5Y) cells was investigated. The crosslinked starch nanoparticle‐stabilized oil‐in‐water MIPEs containing acrylamide/methylenebisacrylamide/poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) in the continuous phase cured in 1 and 6 h to produce 3D porous scaffolds called, respectively, PolyMIPE‐SP and PolyMIPE‐SP after the removal of the internal oil phase. Field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE‐SEM) micrographs revealed uniform interconnected porous structures with average pore sizes of 46.74 and 7.13 μm for PolyMIPE‐LP and PolyMIPE‐SP, respectively. Cell viability and cell culture studies exhibited that the biocompatibility, proliferation, and growth of SH‐SY5Y and MCF‐7 cells on PolyMIPE‐LP were better than those on PolyMIPE‐SP due to the proper placement of cells in large pores. Then, deposited conductive polyaniline (PANI) nanoparticles on the pore surface of PolyMIPE‐LP induced a rough surface with a nanoprotrusion structure and balanced hydrophobicity/hydrophilicity, enhancing cell growth in the scaffold. The cyclic voltammograms revealed that the conductivity of PolyMIPE‐LP/PANI scaffolds depends directly on the swelling degree of the scaffold. Consequently, these findings make PolyMIPE‐LP/PANI a suitable bioactive substrate for electroactive cell studies, chemo‐photothermal therapy of cancer cells, and drug testing platforms.