TY - JOUR A1 - Flachs, Dennis A1 - Etzel, Johannes A1 - Mayer, Margot A1 - Harbecke, Frederic A1 - Belle, Stefan A1 - Rickmeyer, Tim A1 - Thielemann, Christiane T1 - Characterization of electrically conductive, printable ink based on alginate hydrogel and graphene nanoplatelets JF - Biomedical Engineering Advances N2 - In recent years, there has been an increasing interest in electrically conductive hydrogels for a wide range of biomedical applications, like tissue engineering or biosensors. In this study, we present a cost-effective conductive hydrogel based on alginate and graphene nanoplatelets for extrusion-based bioprinters. The hydrogel is prepared under ambient conditions avoiding high temperatures detrimental for cell culture environments. Investigation of the hydrogel revealed a conductivity of up to 7.5 S/cm, depending on the ratio of platelets. Furthermore, in vitro tests with human embyronic kidney cells - as an example cell type - showed good adhesion of the cells to the surface of the conductive hydrogel. Electrochemical measurements revealed a low electrode impedance which is desirable for the extracellular recording, but also low electrode capacitance, which is unfavorable for electrical stimulation purposes. Therefore, future experiments with the graphene nanoplatelets-based hydrogels will focus on electrodes for biosensors and extracellular recordings of neurons or cardiac myocytes. KW - Hydrogel KW - Biosensor KW - Alginate Y1 - 2022 U6 - https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bea.2022.100045 VL - 2022 IS - 4 SP - 1 EP - 2 ER -