René Morelle

Master student

Development and optimization of alginate-based bioinks for biofabrication

 

Supervisors: Jonas Hazur, Prof. Dr.-Ing. habil. Aldo R. Boccaccini

Alginate, obtained from brown algae, is a well-known polysaccharide for biomedical applications due to its biocompatibility and ability to form hydrogels under mild conditions [1]. Alginate hydrogels are used for tissue engineering and drug delivery as they are able to mimic a simplified extracellular matrix in fundamental biological experiments. A recent study of our Institute focused on the usage of alginate hydrogels as cell-carrying bioinks for 3D-printing by pre-crosslinking [2]. The aim of this Master thesis is the development of an improved alginate bioink considering by a novel pre-crosslinking concept. Various parameters for alginate bioink fabrication will be optimized, by applying a DoE approach. After defining and adapting pertinent factors, the parameters leading to improved printability and printing resolution will be identified.

[1]         K. Y. Lee and D. J. Mooney, “Alginate: Properties and biomedical applications,” Prog. Polym. Sci., vol. 37, no. 1, pp. 106–126, 2012.

[2]         J. Hazur et al., “Improving alginate printability for biofabrication: establishment of a universal and homogeneous pre-crosslinking technique,” Biofabrication, vol. 12, no. 4, p. 45004, 2020.