Janina Reichstein

Bachelor student

Direct ink writing of a biocomposite scaffolds for bone regeneration using bioactive glass nanoparticles

 

Supervisors: Dr. Malte Hartmann, Prof. Dr. Aldo R. Boccaccini

3 D printing is a method with great interest for developing structures for biological applications such as for bone regeneration. The technique allows relatively fast production of complex and specific geometries with hight porosity [1]. Direct ink writing (DIW) is an extrusion based 3 D printing method which has some advantages compared to other additive manufacturing methods. Specifically, no heat is applied and thus the use of heat sensitive materials is possible [1, 2]. In this study a material based on polycarprolactone and natural polymers incorporating bioactive glass nanoparticles will be produced and tested. The challenge thereby is to find the right rheological parameters which make the material usable for DIW. The resulting mechanical and biological characteristics of the DIW developed structures will be studied.

[1] Bin Zhang, et al., Direct ink writing of polycaprolactone / polyethylene oxide based 3D constructs, Progress of Natural Science: Materials International, https://doi.org/j.pnsc.2020.10.001.

[2] Pan Jiang, et al., Direct ink writing with high-strength and swelling-resistant biocompatible physically crosslinked hydrogels, Biomater, Sci, 2019, 7, 1805.