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Preparation of 3D Printed Polylactic Acid/Bacterial Cellulose Composite Scaffold for Tissue Engineering Applications
Yadong Wu1, Yunfeng Wang1, Fang Wang2
1MIIT Key Laboratory of Critical Materials Technology for New Energy Conversion and Storage, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin 150001, China.
Polymers
|November 11, 2022
Summary
This study developed novel 3D-printed polylactic acid/bacterial cellulose composite scaffolds. These scaffolds exhibit enhanced mechanical strength, tunable hydrophilicity, and excellent biocompatibility for tissue engineering applications.
Area of Science:
- Biomaterials Science
- Tissue Engineering
- Composite Materials
Background:
- Bacterial cellulose (BC) is a universal biomaterial with a unique ultra-fine network structure.
- Polylactic acid (PLA) offers good mechanical properties, biocompatibility, and biodegradability, making it suitable for tissue engineering.
- There is a need for advanced composite scaffolds with improved physicochemical and biological properties.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop and characterize novel 3D-printed polylactic acid/bacterial cellulose (PLA/BC) composite scaffolds.
- To evaluate the impact of varying PLA loadings (1.0-2.0 wt.%) on scaffold properties.
- To assess the biological performance, including cell growth and hemocompatibility, and degradation behavior of the PLA/BC scaffolds.
Main Methods:
- Fabrication of PLA/BC composite scaffolds using 3D printing technology.
- Characterization of physicochemical properties such as tensile strength and hydrophilicity.
- Evaluation of biological properties including Schwann cell adhesion and proliferation on different surface topographies (round hole, stripe, smooth).
- Assessment of hemocompatibility through erythrocyte fixation and platelet adhesion tests.
- In vitro degradation studies in simulated body fluid.
Main Results:
- PLA/BC composite scaffolds demonstrated significantly increased tensile strength (66.49 MPa) compared to pure BC films (25.61 MPa).
- Hydrophilicity was tunable by adjusting PLA content.
- Schwann cells successfully adhered and proliferated better on 3D composite membranes with circular pore and stripe structures than on smooth surfaces.
- The 3D composite scaffold exhibited excellent blood compatibility.
- In vitro degradation rate of PLA/BC scaffolds (18.75%) was slightly higher than pure BC membranes (14.38%) after 6 weeks.
Conclusions:
- 3D-printed PLA/BC composite scaffolds offer enhanced mechanical properties and tunable hydrophilicity.
- The developed scaffolds support cell adhesion, proliferation, and exhibit good hemocompatibility, indicating potential for tissue engineering.
- The surface topography significantly influences cell growth behavior.
- PLA/BC composites show promising biocompatibility and controlled degradation profiles for biomedical applications.
