Yuman Song

Master student

Production of resorbable filaments containing biopolymers and bioactive glass particles for 3D printing applications

Supervisors: Marcela Arango Ospina, Prof. Aldo R. Boccaccini

Successful bone tissue engineering requires the recreation of the native bone microenvironment to stimulate bone regeneration while providing sufficient mechanical support [1]. Poly(hydroxybutyrate-co-hydroxyvalerate) (PHBV) is a bioresorbable aliphatic thermoplastic polyester that has been widely used in 3D-printed bone tissue engineering scaffolds [2,3]. Silicate bioactive glasses (BGs) possess a highly disrupted silicate network, which not only allows chemical bonding with bone tissue but also stimulates osteogenic cell responses at the genetic level [4,5]. The combination of BGs with biopolymers is of great interest, particularly for the production of resorbable filaments for 3D printing, to obtain scaffolds with enhanced mechanical properties and biological behavior. Therefore, this study focuses on the fabrication and characterization of PHBV-based composite filaments containing BG micropartices and their application in FDM 3D printing of porous scaffolds.

[1] R. Quarto and P. Giannoni, “Bone Tissue Engineering: Past-Present-Future”, Methods Mol. Biol., 2016, vol. 1416, pp. 21–33. doi: 10.1007/978-1-4939-3584-0_2.

[2] K. Rezwan, Q. Z. Chen, J. J. Blaker, and A. R. Boccaccini, “Biodegradable and bioactive porous polymer/inorganic composite scaffolds for bone tissue engineering”, 2006,  vol. 27, pp. 3413-3431. doi: 10.1016/j.biomaterials.2006.01.039.

[3] B. Aráoz et al., “3D printed poly(hydroxybutyrate-co-hydroxyvalerate)—45S5 bioactive glass composite resorbable scaffolds suitable for bone regeneration”, J. Mater. Res., 2021, vol. 36, no. 19, pp. 4000–4012.  doi: 10.1557/s43578-021-00272-9.

[4] J. R. Jones, D. S. Brauer, L. Hupa, and D. C. Greenspan, “Bioglass and Bioactive Glasses and Their Impact on Healthcare”, Int. J. Appl. Glass Sci., 2016, vol. 7, no. 4, pp. 423–434. doi: 10.1111/ijag.12252.

[5] D. S. Brauer, “Bioaktive Glasses-Strukture and Properties”, Angewandte Chemie, 2015, 54, pp. 4160–4181. doi: 10.1002/ange.201405310.