Morphological, mechanical and biological assessment of PCL/pristine graphene scaffolds for bone regeneration

Weiguang Wang¹, Guilherme Ferreira Caetano^1,2, Wei-Hung Chiang³, Ana Letícia Braz⁴, Jonny James Blaker⁴, Marco Andrey Cipriani Frade², Paulo Jorge Bártolo^1*

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¹ Manchester Biomanufacturing Centre, School of Mechanical, Aerospace and Civil Engineering, University of Manchester, Manchester, M13 9PL, UK

² Department of Internal Medicine, Ribeirão Preto School of Medicine, University of São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto, São Paulo, 14049-900, Brazil

³ Department of Chemical Engineering, National Taiwan University of Science and Technology, Taipei, E2-514, Taiwan

⁴ Bio-Active Materials Group, School of Materials, The University of Manchester, Manchester, M13 9PL, UK

IJB 2016, 2(2), 95–104; https://doi.org/10.18063/IJB.2016.02.009

© Invalid date by the Author(s). This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License ( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ )

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Abstract

Scaffolds are physical substrates for cell attachment, proliferation, and differentiation, ultimately leading to the regeneration of tissues. They must be designed according to specific biomechanical requirements such as mechanical properties, surface characteristics, biodegradability, biocompatibility, and porosity. The optimal design of a scaffold for a specific tissue strongly depends on both materials and manufacturing processes. Polymeric scaffolds reinforced with electro-active particles could play a key role in tissue engineering by modulating cell proliferation and differentiation. This paper investigates the use of an extrusion additive manufacturing system to produce PCL/pristine graphene scaffolds for bone tissue applications. PCL/pristine graphene blends were prepared using a melt blending process. Scaffolds with regular and reproducible architecture were produced with different concentrations of pristine graphene. Scaffolds were evaluated from morphological, mechanical, and biological view. The results suggest that the addition of pristine graphene improves the mechanical performance of the scaffolds, reduces the hydrophobicity, and improves cell viability and proliferation.

Keywords

biofabrication

human adipose-derived stem cells

poly (ε-caprolactone)

pristine graphene

scaffolds

tissue engineering

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