Nehir Bayramoglu

Master student

Development of Phytotherapeutic Melt Electrowriting for Biomedical Applications

 

Supervisors: Dr. Irem Unalan, Prof. Aldo R. Boccaccini

Bacterial infections and oxidative stresses are crucial issues in biomedical applications. The integration of natural phytotherapeutic agents, such as essential oils (EOs), with engineered biomaterials is expanding due to their bioactive compounds, which possess antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, anticancer, and antioxidant properties [1]. Meanwhile, melt electrowriting (MEW), an additive manufacturing method that combines melt extrusion and electrospinning techniques, utilizes electrohydrodynamic processing of polymer melts to produce scaffolds for biomedical applications [2]. Polycaprolactone (PCL) emerges as a biocompatible thermoplastic polyester ideal for MEW, facilitating the formation of intricately structured scaffolds [3]. It is still crucial to explore the potential of EOs and MEW in biomedical applications. Therefore, this master’s thesis will analyze the physical, mechanical, chemical, and biological properties of EOs incorporated into PCL-based MEW scaffolds to investigate their potential.

[1] I. Unalan and A. R. Boccaccini, “Essential oils in biomedical applications: Recent progress and future opportunities,” Current Opinion in Biomedical Engineering, vol. 17, p. 100261, Mar. 2021, doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cobme.2021.100261.

[2] J. C. Kade and P. D. Dalton, “Polymers for Melt Electrowriting,” Advanced Healthcare Materials, vol. 10, no. 1, p. 2001232, Sep. 2020, doi: https://doi.org/10.1002/adhm.202001232.

[3] Shahverdi, M., Seifi, S., Akbari, A. et al. Melt electrowriting of PLA, PCL, and composite PLA/PCL scaffolds for tissue engineering application. Sci Rep 12, 19935 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-24275-6