3D Printing of Gelled and Cross-Linked Cellulose Solutions; an Exploration of Printing Parameters and Gel Behaviour

Bioengineering

Hossein Najaf Zadeh¹  Sean Feast¹  Tim Huber²  Conan Fee²  Thea Roughan² 

[1] Biomolecular Interaction Centre, University of Canterbury, Private Bag 4800, Christchurch 8020, New Zealand;School of Product Design, University of Canterbury, Private Bag 4800, Christchurch 8020, New Zealand;

关键词: bioprinting;    cellulose;    hydrogel;    physical cross-linking;   

DOI  :  10.3390/bioengineering7020030

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

In recent years, 3D printing has enabled the fabrication of complex designs, with low-cost customization and an ever-increasing range of materials. Yet, these abilities have also created an enormous challenge in optimizing a large number of process parameters, especially in the 3D printing of swellable, non-toxic, biocompatible and biodegradable materials, so-called bio-ink materials. In this work, a cellulose gel, made out of aqueous solutions of cellulose, sodium hydroxide and urea, was used to demonstrate the formation of a shear thinning bio-ink material necessary for an extrusion-based 3D printing. After analysing the shear thinning behaviour of the cellulose gel by rheometry a Design of Experiments (DoE) was applied to optimize the 3D bioprinter settings for printing the cellulose gel. The optimum print settings were then used to print a human ear shape, without a need for support material. The results clearly indicate that the found settings allow the printing of more complex parts with high-fidelity. This confirms the capability of the applied method to 3D print a newly developed bio-ink material.

【 授权许可】

Unknown