It was shown that carbon nonwoven fabrics obtained from polyacrylonitrile fibers (PAN) by thermal conversion may be modified on the surface in order to improve their biological compatibility and cellular response, which is particularly important in the regeneration of bone or cartilage tissue. Surface functionalization of carbon nonwovens containing C-C double bonds was carried out using in situ generated diazonium salts derived from aromatic amines containing both electron-acceptor and electron-donor substituents. It was shown that the modification method characteristic for materials containing aromatic structures may be successfully applied to the functionalization of carbon materials. The effectiveness of the surface modification of carbon nonwoven fabrics was confirmed by the FTIR method using an ATR device. The proposed approach allows the incorporation of various functional groups on the nonwovens' surface, which affects the morphology of fibers as well as their physicochemical properties (wettability). The introduction of a carboxyl group on the surface of nonwoven fabrics, in a reaction with 4-aminobenzoic acid, became a starting point for further modifications necessary for the attachment of RGD-type peptides facilitating cell adhesion to the surface of materials. The surface modification reduced the wettability (θ) of the carbon nonwoven by about 50%. The surface free energy (SFE) in the chemically modified and reference nonwovens remained similar, with the surface modification causing an increase in the polar component (ɣp). The modification of the fiber surface was heterogeneous in nature; however, it provided an attractive site of cell-materials interaction by contacting them to the fiber surface, which supports the adhesion process.
Keywords: RGD- peptide; aromatic amine; carbon nonwoven fabric; cells adhesion; diazonium salt; incorporation of functional groups onto the material surface; surface free energy; surface modification of carbon materials containing Csp2.