Use of negative thermal expansion to design scaffolds for cultured meat

Abstract

Additive manufacturing is proposed as a novel tool to produce complex scaffold constructs for use in cell cultured meat. The presence of scaffolds in the final cell cultured products raises the need to understand the thermal behavior of biopolymers through culturing and cooking as it relates to the final organoleptic properties. Therefore, the objective of this study was to understand how aqueous and high temperature environments influence plasticization and contraction of biopolymer scaffolds through the physio–chemical mechanisms of hydrolysis and negative thermal expansion. To achieve this objective, scaffolds were printed using a negative thermal expansion stretch–dominated design in both PLA and PLA-TPU material configurations. The samples were evaluated after a simulated cooking experiment (90 °C for 10 mins). The formation of crystals in the single material PLA during cooking led to bend–dominated contraction while the dual-material PLA-TPU experienced stretch–dominated contraction. Furthermore, exceeding the glass transition temperature of PLA during simulated cooking in an aqueous environment caused irreversible deformation to the scaffold structure that has the potential to influence organoleptic properties.