{"id":{"repo_id":"uwo","oai_identifier":"oai:uwo.scholaris.ca:20.500.14721/28196"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/uwo/oai:uwo.scholaris.ca:20.500.14721/28196","repository":{"repo_id":"uwo","name":"Western University","base_url":"https://uwo.scholaris.ca/server/oai/request"},"display":{"title":"Preparation and Characterization of Electrospun rGO-Poly(ester amide) Tissue Engineering Scaffolds","abstract":"Tissue engineering scaffolds should support tissue maturation through exposure to biologically relevant stimuli and through successful cell infiltration. External electrical stimulation is particularly relevant for cardiac and neural applications, and requires conductive scaffolds to propagate electrical signals; cell infiltration is only possible with scaffolds that have sufficient porosity. The aim of this study was to impart conductivity and increased porosity of electrospun poly(ester amide) (PEA) scaffolds. Reduced graphene oxide (rGO) was incorporated into blend PEA and coaxial PEA-chitosan fibrous scaffolds, which increased scaffold conductivity and supported cardiac differentiation. The novel combination of ultrasonication and leaching of a sacrificial polymer was used to modify scaffold porosity, and resulted in an increase in pore area evaluated through image analysis. This approach aims to potentially promote tissue maturation with electrospun PEA scaffolds, by modifying both scaffold conductivity and porosity. This extends the relevance of electrospun PEA scaffolds to cardiac tissue engineering for the first time.","abstract_html":"Tissue engineering scaffolds should support tissue maturation through exposure to biologically relevant stimuli and through successful cell infiltration. External electrical stimulation is particularly relevant for cardiac and neural applications, and requires conductive scaffolds to propagate electrical signals; cell infiltration is only possible with scaffolds that have sufficient porosity. The aim of this study was to impart conductivity and increased porosity of electrospun poly(ester amide) (PEA) scaffolds. Reduced graphene oxide (rGO) was incorporated into blend PEA and coaxial PEA-chitosan fibrous scaffolds, which increased scaffold conductivity and supported cardiac differentiation. The novel combination of ultrasonication and leaching of a sacrificial polymer was used to modify scaffold porosity, and resulted in an increase in pore area evaluated through image analysis. This approach aims to potentially promote tissue maturation with electrospun PEA scaffolds, by modifying both scaffold conductivity and porosity. This extends the relevance of electrospun PEA scaffolds to cardiac tissue engineering for the first time.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Stone, Hilary"],"institution":"The University of Western Ontario","degree_name":"M Eng Sci","degree_level":null,"degree_discipline":"Biomedical Engineering","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":["Mequanint, Kibret"],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2018,"date_issued":"2018-06-25","date_published":"2018-06-25","updated_at":"2026-07-27T21:56:18Z","subjects":["tissue engineering","electrospinning","poly(ester amide)s","reduced graphene oxide","conductive scaffolds","scaffold porosity"],"languages":["en_ca"],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14721/28196","outbound_label":"Handle","outbound_source":"dc:identifier.uri"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor.advisor","label":"Advisor","values":["Mequanint, Kibret"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Stone, Hilary"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.accessioned","label":"Dc Date Accessioned","values":["2025-07-10T16:08:53Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2025-07-10T16:08:53Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.issued","label":"Date","values":["2018-06-25"]},{"key":"dc:publisher","label":"Institution","values":["The University of Western Ontario"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Biomedical Engineering"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["M Eng Sci"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["tissue engineering","electrospinning","poly(ester amide)s","reduced graphene oxide","conductive scaffolds","scaffold porosity"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language.iso","label":"Language (ISO)","values":["en_ca"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier.uri","label":"Identifier URI","values":["https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14721/28196"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description","label":"Description","values":["The thesis cover page in the PDF document includes references to Western University’s previous institutional repository platform, known as Scholarship@Western, and links to that platform (beginning with ir.lib.uwo.ca). In citing or referring to this thesis, use the DOI or handle from this page instead. Sample citation: Author name, \"Thesis title.\" (Year). Western University Open Repository. https://doi.org/10.71858/123456."]},{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Tissue engineering scaffolds should support tissue maturation through exposure to biologically relevant stimuli and through successful cell infiltration. External electrical stimulation is particularly relevant for cardiac and neural applications, and requires conductive scaffolds to propagate electrical signals; cell infiltration is only possible with scaffolds that have sufficient porosity. The aim of this study was to impart conductivity and increased porosity of electrospun poly(ester amide) (PEA) scaffolds. Reduced graphene oxide (rGO) was incorporated into blend PEA and coaxial PEA-chitosan fibrous scaffolds, which increased scaffold conductivity and supported cardiac differentiation. The novel combination of ultrasonication and leaching of a sacrificial polymer was used to modify scaffold porosity, and resulted in an increase in pore area evaluated through image analysis. This approach aims to potentially promote tissue maturation with electrospun PEA scaffolds, by modifying both scaffold conductivity and porosity. 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