Biocompatibility of conformal silicon carbide on carbon nanowall scaffolds

Silicon carbide (SiC) was coated onto carbon nanowall (CNW) scaffolds using chemical vapor deposition with a vinylsilane precursor at 700 degrees C to investigate the influence of the wall edge width, wall-to-wall distance, and surface morphology. The wall edge width ranged from 10 nm to those filling the wall-to-wall space without disrupting the CNW morphology. When SiC-coated CNWs (SiC/CNWs) were used as scaffolds for cell culture, cell viability increased until the edge area ratio reached 40%. In over 40% of edge area ratio, cell viability was saturate and comparable to flat surfaces such as SiC films on the Si substrate (SiC/Si) and control samples prepared using polystyrene. Calcification was suppressed in the CNWs, SiC/CNWs, and SiC/Si scaffolds compared to polystyrene. Our results suggest that SiC-coated CNW scaffolds could suppress calcification and promote cell proliferation.

Automated summary

In this study, silicon carbide (SiC) was coated onto carbon nanowall (CNW) scaffolds, and the influence of wall edge width, wall-to-wall distance, and surface morphology was investigated. The results showed that SiC-coated CNW scaffolds could suppress calcification and promote cell proliferation.