Zhaorui Jin

Master student

Biofabrication of dual-crosslinked alginate based hydrogels containing bioactive glass nanoparticles

 

Supervisors: Dr. Hui Zhu, Prof. Aldo R. Boccaccini

Oxidized alginate (ADA) is attracting increasing interest because of its improved degradation behaviour and chemically binding ability in comparison to alginate [1]. The aim of this Master thesis is to design and characterize novel ADA based hydrogels incorporating bioactive glass nanoparticles to achieve suitable degradation rate, swelling ratio, mechanical strength and cell viability, following the bioreactive filler approach [2]. The influence of the reactant ratio, reaction conditions and crosslinking methods on the properties of the composite hydrogel will be investigated. Osteoblast cell viability and proliferation on this hydrogel will also be evaluated. The ultimate objective is to fabricate 3D cell laden scaffolds by using a composite hydrogel system and carefully tuning its rheology for achieving suitable printability and shape fidelity.

[1] Reakasame, S., Boccaccini, A.R., Oxidized alginate-based hydrogels for tissue engineering applications: a review. Biomacromolecules 2018, 19, 3–21.

[2] Heid, S., Boccaccini, A. R., Advancing bioinks for 3D bioprinting using reactive fillers: A review, Acta Biomater. 2020, in press.