LAUSR

Bioactive, synthetic materials represent next-generation composites for tissue regeneration. Design of contemporary materials attempts to recapitulate the complexities of native tissue; however, few successfully mimic the order in nature. Recently, graphene oxide (GO) has emerged as a scaffold due to its potential for bioactive functionalization and long-range order instilled by the self-assembly of graphene sheets. Chemical reduction of GO results in a more compatible material with enhanced properties but compromises the ability to functionalize the graphenic backbone. However, using Johnson–Claisen rearrangement chemistry, functionalization is achieved that is not liable to reduction. From reduced Claisen graphene, we polymerized short homopeptides from α-amino acid N-carboxyanhydride monomers of glutamate and lysine to result in functionalized graphenes (pGlu-rCG and pLys-rCG) that are cytocompatible, degradable, and bioactive. Exposure to NIH-3T3 fibroblasts and RAW 264.7 macrophages revealed that the materials are cytocompatible and do not alter important sub-cellular compartments. Powders were hot pressed to form mechanically stiff (E′: 41 and 49 MPa), strong (UCS: 480 and 140 MPa), and tough (UT: 2898 and 584 J m−3 × 104) three-dimensional constructs (pGlu-rCG and pLys-rCG, respectively). Overall, we report a robust chemistry and processing strategy for facile bioactive functionalization of compatible, reduced Claisen graphene for three-dimensional biomedical applications. © 2017 Society of Chemical Industry