Enhancing the Hydrophilicity and Cell Attachment of 3D Printed PCL/Graphene Scaffolds for Bone Tissue Engineering

Wang, Weiguang; Caetano, Guilherme; Ambler, William Stephen; Blaker, Jonny James; Frade, Marco Andrey; Mandal, Parthasarathi; Diver, Carl; Bártolo, Paulo

doi:10.3390/ma9120992

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Enhancing the Hydrophilicity and Cell Attachment of 3D Printed PCL/Graphene Scaffolds for Bone Tissue Engineering

Weiguang Wang

^1,†,

Guilherme Caetano

^1,2,†,

William Stephen Ambler

³,

²,

¹ and

^1,*

Manchester Institute of Biotechnology, School of Mechanical, Aerospace and Civil Engineering, University of Manchester, Manchester M13 9PL, UK

Department of Internal Medicine, Ribeirão Preto Medical School, University of São Paulo (USP), Ribeirão Preto, SP 14049-900, Brazil

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

Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.

^†

These authors contributed equally to this work.

Academic Editor: Chee Kai Chua

Materials 2016, 9(12), 992; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma9120992

Received: 30 September 2016 / Revised: 24 November 2016 / Accepted: 25 November 2016 / Published: 7 December 2016

(This article belongs to the Special Issue 3D Printing for Biomedical Engineering)

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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, i.e., certain standards in terms of mechanical properties, surface characteristics, porosity, degradability, and biocompatibility. The optimal design of a scaffold for a specific tissue strongly depends on both materials and manufacturing processes, as well as surface treatment. 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-based additive manufacturing system to produce poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL)/pristine graphene scaffolds for bone tissue applications and the influence of chemical surface modification on their biological behaviour. Scaffolds with the same architecture but different concentrations of pristine graphene were evaluated from surface property and biological points of view. Results show that the addition of pristine graphene had a positive impact on cell viability and proliferation, and that surface modification leads to improved cell response. View Full-Text

Keywords: biofabrication; composite materials; graphene; hydrophilicity; polycaprolactone; scaffolds; surface modification; tissue engineering

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MDPI and ACS Style

Wang, W.; Caetano, G.; Ambler, W.S.; Blaker, J.J.; Frade, M.A.; Mandal, P.; Diver, C.; Bártolo, P. Enhancing the Hydrophilicity and Cell Attachment of 3D Printed PCL/Graphene Scaffolds for Bone Tissue Engineering. Materials 2016, 9, 992. https://doi.org/10.3390/ma9120992

AMA Style

Wang W, Caetano G, Ambler WS, Blaker JJ, Frade MA, Mandal P, Diver C, Bártolo P. Enhancing the Hydrophilicity and Cell Attachment of 3D Printed PCL/Graphene Scaffolds for Bone Tissue Engineering. Materials. 2016; 9(12):992. https://doi.org/10.3390/ma9120992

Chicago/Turabian Style

Wang, Weiguang, Guilherme Caetano, William S. Ambler, Jonny J. Blaker, Marco A. Frade, Parthasarathi Mandal, Carl Diver, and Paulo Bártolo. 2016. "Enhancing the Hydrophilicity and Cell Attachment of 3D Printed PCL/Graphene Scaffolds for Bone Tissue Engineering" Materials 9, no. 12: 992. https://doi.org/10.3390/ma9120992

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Enhancing the Hydrophilicity and Cell Attachment of 3D Printed PCL/Graphene Scaffolds for Bone Tissue Engineering

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