Page 11 - IPCoSME 2021

1 INTERNATIONAL POSTGRADUATE CONFERENCE ON SCIENCE AND MARINE ENVIRONMENT 2021
st
(IPCoSME 2021)
“Environmental Sustainability Enhancement Through the Collaboration of Sciences”

PLENARY SPEAKER ABSTRACT

UMT

BACTERIAL PLASTIC: A PROMISING NEXT GENERATION BIOMATERIAL

VIGNESWARI SEVAKUMARAN

Faculty of Science and Marine Environment, Universiti Malaysia Terengganu, 21030 Kuala
Nerus, Terengganu

Corresponding author email: vicky@umt.edu.my

Abstract: Bacterial plastic are plastic which are produced by microorganisms under specific

conditions. Polyhydroxyalkonoates (PHAs) are a bacterial plastic that bacteria produce under

conditions of low concentrations of important nutrients. This bacterial derived biopolymer is
highly sought after by researchers world over due to its high levels of biocompatibility and

inert in-vivo degradation products. However, as with most biopolymers, the surface of PHA is
relatively hydrophobic with minimal recognition sites for cell attachment. This makes it a less

desirable candidate to be tailored as scaffolds for tissue engineering and regenerative medicine.
Therefore, surface modifications to promote an increased cell-biomaterial interaction for better

cell proliferation are extensively studied. Surface modification is rendered as an effective

approach in designing scaffolds to meet the specific criteria in serving as tissue engineering
scaffolds. Nanofabrication is a form of surface modification to fabricate biomaterials at

dimensions measured in nanometers with nano- and micro-topographies which closely mimics

the natural surroundings for tissue regeneration. Electrospinning represents a popular approach
in the fabrication of fibrous biomaterials. Electrospinning process involves the application of

high-voltage source causes the formation of surface charges that causes the polymer solutions
to emerge as jet. The in-vitro cytocompatibility tests of nanofiber PHA promoted the

proliferation of fibroblast cell. Precise control of fiber morphology was found to improve
scaffold designs that mimics the functions of native extracellular matrix (ECM). The

generation of scaffolds with clinically relevant dimensions by electrospinning technique and

the homogeneous distribution of cells within them, makes nanofibrous PHA an excellent
material for tissue engineering application.

Keywords: Polyhydroxyalkonoates (PHAs), nanofabrication, electrospinning, biomaterial,
biocompatible

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