3D Bioplotter Research Papers
Advanced composites for hard-tissue engineering based on PCL/organic–inorganic hybrid fillers: From the design of 2D substrates to 3D rapid prototyped scaffolds
The bioactivity of sol–gel synthesized poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL)/TiO2 or poly(ε-caprolactone)/ZrO2 particles was already known. In designing innovative 2D composite substrates for hard-tissue engineering, the possibility to embed PCL/TiO2 or PCL/ZrO2 hybrid fillers into a PCL matrix was previously proposed. In the present study, the potential of 3D fiber-deposition technique to design morphologically controlled scaffolds consisting of PCL reinforced with PCL/TiO2 or PCL/ZrO2 hybrid fillers was demonstrated. Finite element analysis was initially carried out on 2D substrates to find a correlation between the previously obtained results from the small punch test and the Young’s modulus of the materials, whilst mechanical and biological…