Magnetic Field-Assisted Stereolithography for Productions of Multimaterial Hierarchical Surface Structures

Area of Science:

• Biomimetics and biofabrication
• Materials science and engineering
• Additive manufacturing

Background:

• Natural organisms exhibit complex multiscale surface structures inspiring engineering applications.
• Replicating nature's hierarchical designs is challenging due to geometric complexity and material diversity.
• Existing 3D printing methods struggle with fabricating multiscale, multimaterial structures.

Purpose of the Study:

• To present a novel multiscale multimaterial 3D printing method, magnetic field-assisted stereolithography (M-SL).
• To fabricate bioinspired hierarchical surface structures with features from nanometers to centimeters.
• To investigate the M-SL process parameters, material properties, and their influence on printed geometries.

Main Methods:

• Development and application of magnetic field-assisted stereolithography (M-SL) for 3D printing.
• Fabrication of hierarchical structures with microscale cones, nanoscale pores, and surface wrinkles.
• Analysis of M-SL process and material parameters influencing printed geometries.
• Comparison of printed geometries with digital designs to assess accuracy.

Main Results:

• Successful fabrication of multiscale hierarchical particle-polymer structures using M-SL.
• Demonstration of enhanced hydrophobicity, changing surface contact angle from ~38° to ~146°.
• Significant improvement in cell attachment and growth (900% increase at 72h) compared to smooth surfaces.
• Validation of local and selective cell seeding capabilities enabled by surface design.

Conclusions:

• M-SL is an effective 3D printing method for creating functional, hierarchically structured surfaces.
• The fabricated surfaces exhibit tunable properties like hydrophobicity and enhanced biocompatibility.
• This technology holds potential for diverse applications requiring complex, bioinspired surface functionalities.