Synthesis and biocompatibility assessment of polyaniline nanomaterials

To investigate the biocompatibility of polyaniline nanomaterials as the drug carrier, polyaniline nanospheres with high-molecular weight (Mw ~48,000) and nanofibers with low-molecular weight (Mw ~4000) were prepared and cytotoxicity, acute oral toxicity test, and histopathology examination were performed. Cytotoxicity test showed that both nanofibers and nanospheres were quite toxic to BV2 microglia cells at higher concentration and the former were more toxic than the latter. No clear sign of acute toxicity was found after oral administration. However, histopathology section demonstrated slight liver damage present when administrated polyaniline nanofibers with 100 mg/mL. The results revealed that the higher of the molecular weight, the lower toxicity it had. Preparing polyaniline with higher molecular weight may be one of the methods to obtain polyaniline with good biocompatibility. The results gave a better understanding of biocompatibility of polyaniline nanomaterial and made it more practical in medical field.