Abstract
Inspired by electrically active tissues, conductive materials have been extensively developed for electrically active tissue engineering scaffolds. In addition to excellent conductivity, nanocomposite conductive materials can also provide nanoscale structure similar to the natural extracellular microenvironment. Recently, the combination of three-dimensional (3D) printing and nanotechnology has opened up a new era of conductive tissue engineering scaffolds exhibiting optimized properties and multifunctionality. Furthermore, in the case of two-dimensional (2D) conductive film scaffolds such as periosteum, nerve membrane, skin repair, etc., the traditional preparation process, such as solvent casting, produces 2D films with defects of unequal bubbles and thickness frequently. In this study, poly-l-lactide (PLLA) conductive scaffolds incorporated with polypyrrole (PPy) nanoparticles, which have multiscale structure similar to natural tissue, were prepared by combining extrusion-based low-temperature deposition 3D printing with freeze-drying. Furthermore, we creatively integrated the advantages of 3D printing and solvent casting and successfully developed a 2D conductive film scaffold with no bubbles, uniform thickness, and good structural stability. Subsequently, the effects of concentration and morphology of PPy nanoparticles on electrical properties and mechanical properties of 3D conductive scaffolds and 2D conductive films scaffolds have been studied, which provided a new idea for the design of both 2D and 3D electroactive tissue engineering scaffolds.
Highlights
The biomimetic construction of the physiological microenvironment is the design goal of tissue engineering scaffolds
Poly-l-lactide (PLLA) conductive scaffolds incorporated with PPy nanoparticles, which have a multiscale structure similar to natural tissue, were prepared by combining extrusion-based low-temperature deposition 3D printing with freeze-drying
The operation step is to draw a three-dimensional image by using 3D builder software in advance, import the image into Gesim Robotics software, select the appropriate extrusion and forming method according to the material forming mode with the corresponding printing parameters, and start printing automatic forming. 3D conductive scaffolds were prepared by combining extrusion-based low-temperature deposition 3D printing with freeze-drying
Summary
The biomimetic construction of the physiological microenvironment is the design goal of tissue engineering scaffolds. Active tissue breeds the birth of conductive tissue engineering scaffolds. Conductive materials, whose conductive properties allow cell behavior or tissue response to be stimulated by electrical signals [1], can interact with bioelectricity in cells and tissues to enhance biological responses [2]. Many studies have reported the addition of conductive materials to tissue engineering scaffolds to enhance the biological response of scaffolds [3,4]. Common conductive biomaterials include conductive polymers such as polypyrrole (PPy), polythiophene (PEDOT), polyaniline (PANI), carbon nanotubes (CNT), carbon fibers, and graphene [5].
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