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Updated: Nov 16, 2025
Ceramic Omnidirectional Bioprinting in Cell-Laden Suspensions for the Generation of Bone Analogs
Published on: August 8, 2022
Clay-based nanocomposite hydrogel with attractive mechanical properties and sustained bioactive ion release for bone
Xinyun Zhai1, Changshun Ruan2, Jie Shen3
1Tianjin Key Laboratory for Rare Earth Materials and Applications, Center for Rare Earth and Inorganic Functional Materials, School of Materials Science and Engineering, National Institute for Advanced Materials, Nankai University, Tianjin 300350, China.
Abstract:
Although clay-based nanocomposite hydrogels have been widely explored, their instability in hot water and saline solution inhibits their applications in biomedical engineering, and the exploration of clay-based nanocomposite hydrogels in bone defect repair is even less. In this work, we developed a stable clay-based nanocomposite hydrogel using 4-acryloylmorpholine as the monomer. After UV light illumination, the obtained poly(4-acryloylmorpholine) clay-based nanocomposite hydrogel (poly(4-acry)-clay nanocomposite hydrogel) exhibits excellent mechanical properties due to the hydrogen bond interactions between the poly(4-acryloylmorpholine) chains and the physical crosslinking effect of the nanoclay. Besides good biocompatibility, the sustainable release of intrinsic Mg2+ and Si4+ from the poly(4-acry)-clay nanocomposite hydrogel endows the system with excellent ability to promote the osteogenic differentiation of primary rat osteoblasts (ROBs) and can promote new bone formation effectively after implantation. We anticipate that these kinds of clay-based nanocomposite hydrogels with sustained release of bioactive ions will open a new avenue for the development of novel biomaterials for bone regeneration.
