Shape-Control of Three-Dimensional Self-Assembly Graphene by Hydrothermal Reaction Time and Its Biological Application

In this paper, three-dimensional self-assembly graphene (3D-G) was prepared by the hydrothermal synthesis method, and 3D-G was designed as a suitable biological scaffold for cell growth and adhesion. The shape of 3D-G was tuned by adjusting the hydrothermal reaction time (6 h, 12 h, 18 h and 24 h). Then the scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), Raman spectroscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analyses were used to characterize the microstructure and component of 3D-G, which showed that the length, diameter, pore size and defects of 3D-G were all decreased as the reaction-time increased. In vitro cell culture experiment, the cytocompatibility of 3D-G prepared under different hydrothermal reaction time was assessed using mouse fibroblast cells (L929) via 3-(4,5-dimethyl-2-thiazolyl)-2,5-diphenyl-2-H-tetrazolium bromide (MTT). Meanwhile, the cell adhesion, growth and proliferation were also observed by SEM. These results showed that the 3D-G with the reaction time of 24 h (3D-G/24 h) had the best cytocompatibility, which could be used as tissue scaffolds for cell growth.