Discipline:
Subcategory: Materials Science
Bianca Stewart - Alabama State University
Co-Author(s): Hannah G. Harding, Elijah Nyairo, and Derrick Dean, Alabama State University, Montgomery, AL
The field of 3-D printing has experienced rapid growth over the last few years, with a number of potential applications for tissue engineering. However, to assist in realizing this potential, there is a need for a better understanding of the structure-property relationships of the materials, particularly the polymers that are being fabricated and studied as tissue scaffolds. Therefore, the objective of this work is to develop a fundamental understanding of the link between the chemical structure and composition, physical properties and cytocompatability. We have used 3-D printing to prepare tissue scaffolds that vary in composition and structure. Polylactic acid (PLA) and nanocomposites of PLA plus hydroxyapatite were printed into various geometries. Correlation of the structure (i.e. chemical makeup; crystallinity and scaffold architecture) with the physical properties (melting behavior; mechanical properties; porosity) shows that the crystallinity and porosity have a significant impact on mechanical properties. The porosity in turn depended on the scaffold architecture such as pore geometry. We have shown that the mechanical properties of 3-D printed polymeric scaffolds depend on scaffold architecture. Correlation of physical properties and scaffold architecture with cytotoxicty has been initiated.
References: Xiaoming Li, Rongrong Cui, Lianwen Sun, Katerina E. Aifantis, Yubo Fan, Qingling Feng, Fuzhai Cui,and Fumio Watari. 2014. 3D-Printed Biopolymers for Tissue Engineering Application. International Journal of Polymer Science. doi.org/10.1155/2014/829145
Brett G. Compton and Jennifer A. Lewis. 2014. 3D-Printing of Lightweight Cellular Composites. Adv. Mater. 26:5930-5935
Susmita Bose, Sahar Vahabzadeh and Amit Bandyopadhyay. 2013. Bone tissue engineering using 3D printing. Materials Today. 16(12):496-504
Funder Acknowledgement(s): This study was supported, in part, by a grant from NSF/CBET awarded to Derrick Dean, Director of Biomedical Engineering and Elijah Nyairo, Assoc Director of Center for NanoBiotechnology Research, Alabama State University, Montgomery.
Faculty Advisor: Elijah Nyairo, enyairo@alasu.edu
Role: I participated in preparing the samples using 3-D printing, and characterizing the crystallinity of the scaffolds.