AUTHOR=Mani Mohan Prasath , Mohd Faudzi Ahmad Athif , Mohamaddan Shahrol , Ismail Ahmad Fauzi , Rathanasamy Rajasekar , Ayyar Manikandan , Jaganathan Saravana Kumar 

TITLE=Grapefruit Oil and Cobalt Nitrate-Loaded Polyurethane Hybrid Nanofibrous Scaffold for Biomedical Applications

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Materials

VOLUME=Volume 9 - 2022

YEAR=2022

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/materials/articles/10.3389/fmats.2022.827009

DOI=10.3389/fmats.2022.827009

ISSN=2296-8016

ABSTRACT=The goal of this work is to fabricate a new composite based on polyurethane (PU), grapefruit (GP) oil and cobalt nitrate (Co(NO3)2) using electrospinning technique. Morphology results revealed the reduction in the fiber diameter of the composites compared to pristine PU control. The interaction of PU with the GP and Co(NO3)2 was confirmed by hydrogen bond formation as evident in infrared analysis. The fabricated PU/GP composites depicted more hydrophobic behaviour while PU/GP/Co(NO3)2 showed hydrophilic behaviour than the pristine PU. Atomic force micrographs (AFM) revealed that developed composites showed a decrease in the surface roughness (Ra) compared to PU. The addition of GP and Co(NO3)2  improved the mechanical strength of the pristine PU. The blood compatibility assays concluded the increase in blood clotting levels and also less toxic nature of the fabricated composites compared to the pristine PU. Hence the newly designed composites possessing outstanding physicochemical and biological properties may be used as a potential candidate for scaffolding in tissue engineering applications.