Exploring the Biomedical Potential of PLA/Dysprosium Phosphate Composites via Extrusion-Based 3D Printing: Design,...

The present investigation demonstrates the feasibility of dysprosium phosphate (DyPO₄) as an efficient additive in polylactide (PLA) to develop 3D printed scaffolds through the material extrusion (MEX) principle for application in bone tissue engineering. Initially, uniform sized particles of DyPO₄ with tetragonal crystal setting are obtained and subsequently blended with different concentrations of PLA to extrude in the form of filaments. A maximum of 20 wt % DyPO₄ in PLA matrix has been successfully drawn to yield a defect free filament. The resultant filaments were 3D printed through material extrusion methodology. The structural and morphological analysis confirmed the successful reinforcement of DyPO₄ throughout the PLA matrix in all of the 3D printed components. All of the PLA/DyPO₄ composites exhibited magnetic resonance imaging and computed tomography contrasting properties, which were dependent on the dysprosium content in the PLA matrix. The detailed mechanical evaluation of the 3D printed PLA/DyPO₄ composites ensured good strength accomplished by the reinforcement of 5 wt % DyPO₄ in PLA matrix, beyond which a gradual decline in the strength is noticed. Representative volume elements models were developed to realize the intrinsic property of the PLA/DyPO₄ composite, and finite element analysis under both static and dynamic loading conditions has been performed to account for the reliability of experimental results.