Institution: The University of Cambridge
Investigators: Dr Osa Emohare, Professor Neil Rushton
Stream: PhD
Topic: Biomaterials (HA)
Status: Live
The possibility of generating a synthetic bone like material based on carbon nanotubes is dependent on several factors. These include the ability of cells to grow on carbon nanotube surfaces and the ability of apatite to be deposited on carbon nanotube surfaces. These separate components can then be brought together to arrive at a situation in which apatite can be deposited on carbon nanotubes with cell culture subsequently taking place on this surface.
The preceding stages of this project have focussed on achieving the two separate components outlined in the above paragraph. Firstly, it had to establish (as a proof of concept) that cells can indeed reproducibility be cultured on an unconventional surface such as carbon nanotube carpets. This was achieved with the notable finding that hydroxyl group functionalisation was associated with increased rates of cell proliferation.
The second stage of the work focussed on elucidating a method for generating apatite coated carbon nanotube surfaces. This was achieved by a fine tuning of the conditions under which a calcium phosphate solution was exposed to the initially bare carbon nanotube surfaces. This process demonstrated a reproducible method by which apatite could be deposited on carbon nanotube surfaces. The apatite surfaces were characterised using a range of modalities including scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive x‐ray and profilometry. The next stage in this progression presented, outlining the results of attempts to culture cells on apatite ciated carbon nanotube surfaces.
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