This work aims to design and develop a film composed of a polyaniline nano-coated conducting polymer (PANI) bonded to a bioinert polymer (PP) acting as a support and structured by direct laser interference patterning (DLIP). The ultimate goal is to use this material as a biomedical neural scaffold for applications in regenerative medicine, specifically for nerve reconstruction of the peripheral nervous system, taking advantage of the conductive properties of PANI and the texture generated by laser microprocessing. 

The highly ordered pattern of the PANI@PP was achieved by ps-DLIP (355 nm, 3 pulses, 105 mJ.cm^-2) and consisted of symmetrical valley/ridge lines of controlled periodicity and depth in a size similar to that of a neuronal axon. The pattern allowed the generation of a surface with anisotropic conductivity (at interference maxima the PANI coating was removed while at interference minima it was not). The difference in directional resistivity aims to improve the growth and spreading of cells under electrical stimulation.

The combination of advanced functional materials with state-of-the-art laser techniques enabled the generation of substrates with periodic structures and modified (anisotropic) properties that can be easily scaled-up to larger sizes and have great potential for use in manufacture of tissue engineering scaffolds.