Abstract
The fabrication of porous materials for tissue engineering applications in a straightforward manner is still a current challenge. Herein, by combining the advantages of two conventional methodologies with additive manufacturing, well-defined objects with internal and external porosity were produced. First of all, multi-material fused deposition modeling (FDM) allowed us to prepare structures combining poly (ε-caprolactone) (PCL) and poly (lactic acid) (PLA), thus enabling to finely tune the final mechanical properties of the printed part with modulus and strain at break varying from values observed for pure PCL (modulus 200 MPa, strain at break 1700%) and PLA (modulus 1.2 GPa and strain at break 5–7%). More interestingly, supercritical CO2 (SCCO2) as well as the breath figures mechanism (BFs) were additionally employed to produce internal (pore diameters 80–300 µm) and external pores (with sizes ranging between 2 and 12 μm) exclusively in those areas where PCL is present. This strategy will offer unique possibilities to fabricate intricate structures combining the advantages of additive manufacturing (AM) in terms of flexibility and versatility and those provided by the SCCO2 and BFs to finely tune the formation of porous structures.
Highlights
The engineering of three-dimensional (3D) porous scaffolds is currently a center of intensive research since these porous materials offer a suitable microenvironment for the incorporation of cells or growth factors for the regeneration of damaged tissues or organs, mimicking in vivo microenvironments where cells interact and behave according to the mechanical and physical cues obtained from the environment
Supercritical CO2 (SCCO2) as well as the breath figures mechanism (BFs) were employed to produce internal and external pores exclusively in those areas where PCL is present. This strategy will offer unique possibilities to fabricate intricate structures combining the advantages of additive manufacturing (AM) in terms of flexibility and versatility and those provided by the supercritical CO2 (SCCO2) and BFs to finely tune the formation of porous structures
PCL has been previously employed in our group and successfully foamed by using the SCCO2 approach and surface treated with the breath figures methodology [31]
Summary
The engineering of three-dimensional (3D) porous scaffolds is currently a center of intensive research since these porous materials offer a suitable microenvironment for the incorporation of cells or growth factors for the regeneration of damaged tissues or organs, mimicking in vivo microenvironments where cells interact and behave according to the mechanical and physical cues obtained from the environment. In addition to biocompatibility and biodegradability of the materials there are several major requirements to be accomplished including their precise manufacturing, the minimal toxicity of the degradation products, or a degradation rate that match the recovery rate of the targeted tissue [8,9] and the ability to promote specific events at the cellular level [10] They must provide appropriate microenvironments for optimal cell growth and function and the appropriate mechanical support [9,11,12,13]. Conventional techniques comprise phase separation, gas foaming, salt leaching, or freeze-drying just to mention a few of them, while AM encompasses seven different technologies, the most extended methodologies are [19] fused deposition modeling (FDM) (B), selective laser sintering (SLS), and (C) stereolithography (SLA)
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