Synthesis, characterizations, and biocompatibility evaluation of polycaprolactone–MXene electrospun fibers

Abstract The two-dimensional (2D) MXene has attracted great interest in the field of biomedical applications. Here, we synthesized for the first time, polycaprolactone-MXene (PCL-MXene) composite electrospun fibers and evaluated its possible applications in biomedical areas. The composite fibers were characterized by field emission scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis/differential scanning calorimetry, mechanical strength, and contact angle. Additionally, biocompatibility evaluation of the as-synthesized composite fibers was carried out on fibroblasts (NIH-3T3) and preosteoblasts (MC3T3-E1) cell lines, as a model. Besides these, possible biomineralization activity of the composites fibers was also determined for the harden tissues formation. The results showed that PCL-MXene composite electrospun fibers were cell friendly for both cell lines. However, pre-osteoblast cells exhibited higher cell viability compared to fibroblasts. Considering auspicious results, this work is expected to open the possible pathway for the expanded applications of MXene based composites in biomedical applications.