AccScience Publishing / IJB / Online First / DOI: 10.36922/IJB026020009
RESEARCH ARTICLE
Early Access

Laponite-reinforced conductive GelMA-Ionic liquid nanocomposite hydrogels for high-fidelity extrusion 3D printing and localized neurotrophic delivery

Jiarui Zhou1,2 Kamil Elkhoury1 Abhay Menon1 Sanjairaj Vijayavenkataraman1,2*
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1 The Vijay Lab, Division of Engineering, New York University Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi, UAE
2 Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Tandon School of Engineering, New York University, Brooklyn, NY 11201, USA
Received: 7 January 2026 | Accepted: 12 February 2026 | Published online: 20 February 2026
© 2026 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

The development of advanced hydrogel systems capable of precise 3D printing and controlled therapeutic delivery is critical for next-generation biofabrication strategies. In this study, we report a Laponite-reinforced Gelatin methacryloyl (GelMA)/Ionic Liquid (IL) hydrogel engineered to simultaneously enhance printability and enable sustained release of bioactive molecules. The incorporation of Laponite nanoparticles markedly improves rheological characteristics, including viscosity, shear-thinning behavior, and structural fidelity, facilitating high-resolution extrusion-based 3D printing. Specifically, the Laponite concentration was limited to 1% w/v to preserve the soft mechanical environment (< 3 kPa) essential for neural tissue while sufficiently improving rheological properties for processing. Beyond its mechanical and processing advantages, the hydrogel enables the prolonged release of retinoic acid and glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF), promoting the proliferation and neuronal differentiation of N2A cells. This dual-functional platform demonstrates significant potential for the fabrication of complex, cell-instructive scaffolds, offering a versatile approach for applications where structural precision and localized drug delivery are essential.

Keywords
GelMA
Conductive hydrogel
Ionic liquid
Neural tissue
3D printing
Extrusion
Funding
SV acknowledges the Early Career Research Grant (RB907) from NYU Discovery Fund for Human Health for supporting this work.
Conflict of interest
Sanjairaj Vijayavenkataraman 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