Preparation and properties of microporous scaffolds by 3D printing of bio-based polylactic acid composites

Objective  To explore the feasibility of using bio-based polylactic acid composites to directly construct microporous scaffolds by 3D printing.

Method  Thermogravimetric analyzer and differential scanning calorimeter were used to explore the thermal properties of bio-based polylactic acid composites, scanning electron microscopy was used to characterize the microscopic morphology of the bio-scaffold, and the live/dead cell staining was used for detecting cell adhesion of the scaffold.

Result  The prepared 0.6%ADC-PHAP and 40%NaCl-PHAP composites had good thermal stability and processability, and were suitable for the fused deposition modeling 3D printing process. When the compressive strain was 80%, the corresponding compressive stresses of the 0.6%ADC-PHAP and 40%NaCl-PHAP scaffolds were 45.27 and 52.11 MPa, respectively. The initial decomposition temperature of the 0.6%ADC-PHAP composite was 19.5 ℃ lower than that of the 40%NaCl-PHAP composite. The porosity of the 0.6%ADC-PHAP scaffold reached 63.33% which was conducive to cell adhesion, and the cell compatibility was better than that of the 40%NaCl-PHAP scaffold.

Conclusion  The bio-based polylactic acid composites can be used to directly construct microporous bio-scaffolds through fused deposition modeling 3D printing, and the prepared 0.6%ADC-PHAP bio-scaffold has certain application potential.