AccScience Publishing / IJB / Online First / DOI: 10.36922/IJB025290294
RESEARCH ARTICLE
Early Access

Thermally tunable and biodegradable copolymer polymer ink for fabricating 3D-printed implantable drug delivery depots

Yun Geun Jeong1† Joon Yeong Park1† Moon Hee Lim1 James J Yoo2 Sang Jin Lee2 Moon Suk Kim1,3*
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1 Department of Molecular Science and Technology, Ajou University, 206 World Cup-ro, Yeongtong-gu, Suwon 16499, Korea
2 Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine, Wake Forest School of Medicine, Medical Center Boulevard, Winston-Salem, NC, 27157, USA
3 Research Institute, Medipolymer, Woncheon Dong 332-2, Suwon 16522, Korea
†These authors contributed equally to this work.
Received: 18 July 2025 | Accepted: 26 August 2025 | Published online: 26 August 2025
© 2025 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/ )
Abstract

This study presents the rational design, synthesis, and characterization of poly(ε-caprolactone-ran-lactide) (CL) polymer inks with tunable printability and controllable biodegradability for 3D-printed implantable drug delivery applications. By varying the poly(lactide) (PLA) content (1–20 mol%) within the poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL) backbone, the thermal and mechanical properties of the CL copolymers were precisely adjusted to meet both printing and biological performance criteria. Differential scanning calorimetry revealed that increasing PLA content systematically reduced the melting temperature (from 57 to 40 °C), enabling thermal modulation of printability and depot shape retention. Rheological and printability assessments conducted under optimized chamber temperature, feed rate, and extrusion pressure demonstrated excellent filament continuity, layer stacking fidelity, and shape preservation. Among the synthesized variants, CL1–CL3 maintained structural stability above 40 °C and were selected for detailed evaluation. The polymer inks were further validated through the fabrication of dexamethasone (Dex)-loaded CL (Dex-CL) depots, which achieved high encapsulation efficiency (>90%) and exhibited sustained drug release over 30 days in both in vitro and in vivo models. Notably, the lower melting point of Dex-CL3 contributed to faster release kinetics, confirming the utility of PLA content as a tunable parameter for degradation control. In vivo studies demonstrated prolonged Dex retention with minimal local inflammation, as confirmed by histological analysis. The CL polymer inks showed excellent biocompatibility and tissue integration, underscoring their potential for biomedical implantation. Collectively, these findings demonstrate that CL polymer inks provide a robust platform for 3D printing implantable drug depots with customizable degradation profiles, reliable structural performance, and immunological safety, supporting their use in sustained and responsive therapeutic delivery systems.

Keywords
3D printing
Polymer inks
Printability
Biodegradability
Biocompatibility
Drug delivery
Funding
This study was supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) grants, STEAM Program (RS-2024-00458419), and Ministry of SMEs and Startups (20224371).
Conflict of interest
Moon Suk Kim serves as the Editorial Board Member of the journal, but did not in any way involve in the editorial and peer-review process conducted for this paper, directly or indirectly. Other authors declare they have no competing interests
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International Journal of Bioprinting, Electronic ISSN: 2424-8002 Print ISSN: 2424-7723, Published by AccScience Publishing