INVESTIGATING THE INTERACTION OF 3D 
CONDUCTIVE POLYMER COMPOSITES WITH 
BACTERIAL CELLS
Student: Mukhtar Alipuly (ID: 201653626)
Lead Supervisor: Prof. Nurxat Nuraje
Co-Supervisor: Dr. Tri Pham




INTRODUCTION
Conductive Polymer-based Hydrogels can act as an advanced electronic sensor platform
required their tunable electrical and mechanical properties
biocompatibility and antibacterial properties are important
can act as a scaffold for the storage or delivery of organic or inorganic molecules

Rong, Q., Lei, W., & Liu, M. (2018). Conductive Hydrogels as Smart Materials for Flexible Electronic Devices. Chemistry (Weinheim an der Bergstrasse, Germany), 24(64), 16930–16943.
Figure 1. Applications of Conductive Polymer-based Hydrogels
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Disadvantages of Conductive Polymer-based Hydrogels (CPH)
Poor mechanical properties
Low conductivity
Low strength
Poor temperature resistance 
Low electrical sensitivity
PROBLEM STATEMENT

Zhou, C., Wu, T., Xie, X., Song, G., Ma, X., Mu, Q., Huang, Z., Liu, X., Sun, C., & Xu, W. (2022). Advances and challenges in conductive hydrogels: From properties to applications. European Polymer Journal, 177, 111454. 
Figure 2. Main properties and 
possible applications of 
Conductive Polymer-based Hydrogels
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With the addition of the Conducting Polymer into a hydrogel matrix, electrical sensitivity, and mechanical stability can be increased to build a wearable strain sensor.
Synthesis and optimization of Conductive Polymer-based Hydrogels by the addition of Polyaniline (PAni)
Comparing mechanical properties of hydrogels according to their source of origin
Evaluation of mechanical and electrical properties, as well as its sensitivity to strain
Investigation of the effect of CP addition to antibacterial properties


HYPOTHESIS AND GOALS
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SYNTHESIS OF HYDROGELS
Ali, Fayaz, et al. “Emerging Fabrication Strategies of Hydrogels and Its Applications.” Gels, vol. 8, no. 4, Mar. 2022, p. 205

(Poly Acrylamide)


	Polyacetylene	
	Polypyrrole	
	Polyaniline	

Table 1. Conducting Polymers



Figure 3. Classification of Hydrogels
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Figure 4. Photos of antibacterial tests of the PAM/CS hydrogels and PAM/CS–PA hydrogels. (Zhang et al.,  2021)
Cross-linking agents
Natural
Synthetic


N,N'-Methylenebisacrylamide
(MBAA)
Phytic acid (PA)
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Bloot, Ana Paula Marinho, et al. “A Review of Phytic Acid Sources, Obtention, and Applications.” Food Reviews International, Apr. 2021, pp. 1–20






SYNTHESIS OF HYDROGELS
		System 1 	System 2 (hybrid)
	Polysaccharides	Natural (Alginate)	Synthetic (PAAm) + natural (Chitosan)
	Cross-linking agent	Ionic (CaCl2) 
Natural (PA)	Chemical (MBAA) + natural (PA)
	Conducting polymer	PAni	PAni

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EXPERIMENTAL PART
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Figure 5. Synthesis of Alginate hydrogel with and without conducting polymer

SYSTEM 1



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Figure 6. Synthesis of Alg-PA hydrogel with and without conducting polymer

SYSTEM 1

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Nita, L. E., Chiriac, A. P., Ghilan, A., Rusu, A. G., Tudorachi, N., & Timpu, D. (2021). Alginate enriched with phytic acid for hydrogels preparation. International journal of biological macromolecules, 181, 561–571





Figure 7. Synthesis of Dual-crosslinked Alg-PA with and without conducting polymer

SYSTEM 1



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Single crosslinking






SYSTEM 2
Figure 8. A) The general scheme of PAAm/PA-PAni hydrogel synthesis and B) its adhesive properties to a dry surface. 
C) Different volume ratios between Phytic acid and water (volume of the whole solution is 10 ml).
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MBAA
CS
PA
PAAm





RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
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Figure 9. Morphology analysis by SEM images of Alginate hydrogels and its antibacterial test on E.coli.
SYSTEM 1

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Figure 10. Morphology analysis by SEM images of Alg-PA hydrogels and its antibacterial test.
SYSTEM 1
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Figure 11. pH and temperature stability* test of Dual-crosslinked Alg-PA hydrogel with conducting polymer (PAni)



SYSTEM 1
*Condition for antibacterial test is 37OC
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Figure 12. Test of mechanical  properties of PAAm/PA-CS hydrogel with conducting polymer (PAni)




SYSTEM 2
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SYSTEM 2



Figure 13. Test of electrical conductivity and sensitivity of PAAm/PA-CS hydrogel with conducting polymer (PAni)



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Figure 14. FTIR analysis of PAni, Phytic acid, and hydrogels with and without CP

SYSTEM 2
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Morphology analysis of PAAm/PA-PAni hydrogels

Figure 15. SEM images of PAAm/PA hydrogels with a ratio of 5:5 (PA:DI) a) without and b) with PAni at a magnification of 500 and 5000

Figure 16. SEM images of PAAm/PA hydrogels with a ratio of 7,5:2,5 (PA:DI) a) without and b) with PAni at a magnification of 500 and 5000.
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b
a






Morphology analysis of PAAm/PA-PAni hydrogels
Figure 17. SEM images of PAAm/PA hydrogels with a ratio of 10:0 (PA:DI) without and b) with PAni at a magnification of 500 and 5000.
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Figure 18. Antibacterial test of PAAm/PA and PAAm/PA-PAni hydrogel on E. coli (a) and B.subtilis (b). 1) 5:5; 2) 5:5 PAni; 3) 7,5:2,5; 4) 7,5:2,5 PAni

SYSTEM 2
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CONCLUSION
Novel Conductive Polymer-based Hydrogel systems were obtained
Tunable electrical and mechanical properties were developed
Effect of the addition of CP to electrical sensitivity and stability under strain were investigated
Antibacterial properties were studied

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FUTURE WORK
To obtain more statistical data
Study adhesive properties of hydrogels and their applications
Cytotoxicity test
Investigation of hydrogel modification ways
Improvement of electrical conductivity
Insertion of particles for storage and to test stimuli-responsive release

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Rong, Q., Lei, W., & Liu, M. (2018). Conductive Hydrogels as Smart Materials for Flexible Electronic Devices. Chemistry (Weinheim an der Bergstrasse, Germany), 24(64), 16930–16943. https://doi.org/10.1002/chem.201801302

Zhou, C., Wu, T., Xie, X., Song, G., Ma, X., Mu, Q., Huang, Z., Liu, X., Sun, C., & Xu, W. (2022). Advances and challenges in conductive hydrogels: From properties to applications. European Polymer Journal, 177, 111454. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eurpolymj.2022.111454 

Ali, Fayaz, et al. “Emerging Fabrication Strategies of Hydrogels and Its Applications.” Gels, vol. 8, no. 4, Mar. 2022, p. 205, https://doi.org/10.3390/gels8040205. 

Bloot, Ana Paula Marinho, et al. “A Review of Phytic Acid Sources, Obtention, and Applications.” Food Reviews International, Apr. 2021, pp. 1–20, https://doi.org/10.1080/87559129.2021.1906697. 

Zhang et al. “A Highly Conductive Hydrogel Driven by Phytic Acid towards a Wearable Sensor with Freezing and Dehydration Resistance.” Journal of Materials Chemistry A, vol. 9, no. 39, 2021, pp. 22615–25, https://doi.org/10.1039/d1ta06408h. 

REFERENCES
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My sincere thanks to supervisors Drs. Nurxat Nuraje, Tri Pham, and Salimgerey Adilov, for their countless discussions and advice, and for providing me with good working conditions and support. Also, special thanks to Nazarbayev University for providing a state grant and research-based facilities. 
I would also like to thank the whole lab team, especially, Ph.D. student Dana Kanzhigitova and        Dr. Munziya Abutalip, and other colleagues, for helping me during the whole way of research and giving insightful ideas on my work.  
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS





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