3.2. Biodegradation study
To evaluate the effect of GO addition on the degradation rate of composite scaffolds, weight loss was expressed as the percentage (%) of biodegradation within three weeks (Fig. 2). The biodegradation of GOSA and RGOSA scaffolds containing different percentages of GO were analysed over a three-week period. At day 3, there was gradual biodegradation of all GOSA and RGOSA scaffolds by approximately 20% of initial weight. In contrast, SA scaffolds showed degradation percentages of approximately 31%. The difference between all GO-based scaffolds and the SA scaffold (no-graphene control) was statistically significant (\(p<0.0001\)) from day 2 to day 21. Fig. 2 presents in vitro biodegradation data for all five scaffolds. The mean (SEM) weight loss between day-0 and day-21 was approximately 24.86%±1.34, 32.42%±0.68, 23.19%±1.60, and 31.42%±1.20 for GOSA0.5, GOSA1, RGOSA0.5, and RGOSA1 scaffolds, respectively. The SA scaffold (containing no graphene) showed the highest weight loss of approximately 44.02% at day 21, while hybrid scaffold weight loss stabilised after 7 days.