The Impact of the Methacrylation Process on the Usefulness of Chitosan as a Biomaterial Component for 3D Printing

Chitosan is a very promising material for tissue model printing. It is also known that the introduction of chemical modifications to the structure of the material in the form of methacrylate groups makes it very attractive for application in the bioprinting of tissue models. The aim of this work is to study the characteristics of biomaterials containing chitosan (BCH) and its methacrylated equivalent (BCM) in order to identify differences in their usefulness in 3D bioprinting technology. It has been shown that the BCM material containing methacrylic chitosan is three times more viscous than its non-methacrylated BCH counterpart. Additionally, the BCM material is characterized by stability in a larger range of stresses, as well as better printability, resolution, and fiber stability. The BCM material has higher mechanical parameters, both mechanical strength and Young's modulus, than the BCH material. Both materials are ideal for bioprinting, but BCM has unique rheological properties and significant mechanical resistance. In addition, biological tests have shown that the addition of chitosan to biomaterials increases cell proliferation, particularly in 3D-printed models. Moreover, modification in the form of methacrylation encourages reduced toxicity of the biomaterial in 3D constructs. Our investigation demonstrates the suitability of a chitosan-enhanced biomaterial, specifically methacrylate-treated, for application in tissue engineering, and particularly for tissues requiring resistance to high stress, i.e., vascular or cartilage models.