3D printing of super soft scaffolds is difficult to accomplish because soft materials deform and collapse easily resulting in low shape fidelity. According to the report by Govindarajan, UV curable low modulus, ambient temperature printable polyester inks were developed. The printed scaffolds fabricated from this composition had poor printing resolution and shape fidelity because the extruded filaments spread significantly, leading to shrinkage and uneven pores before crosslinking. We reasoned that that print fidelity could be improved by hydrogen bonds in the composition. Secondary amide groups were introduced into the polymer inks to improve the printing resolution and shape fidelity. The hydrogen bonds formed between amide groups functioned as physical crosslinks and showed higher viscosity than the non-hydrogen bonded ink. This resulted in the significant improvement in printing quality of the hydrogen bonded ink. The rheological and mechanical tests for the UV crosslinked materials showed that the material’s softness was not sacrificed after introduction of hydrogen bonds.<br/>The idea for enhancement of printing quality without sacrificing the softness of the scaffold by the introduction of physical crosslinks is relevant for issue related to 3D printing of polymer inks. This study demonstrates that introducing non-covalent interactions can be used as a strategy to significantly improve the print quality of soft scaffolds.

Enhancement of shape fidelity for 3D-printed soft scaffolds by introducing hydrogen bonds

2019 Spring National Meeting

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