Pandemic-Driven Development of a Medical-Grade,Economic and Decentralized Applicable Polyolefin Filament for Additive Fused Filament Fabrication

A polyolefin with certified biocompatibility according to USP class VI was used by our group as feedstock for filament-based 3D printing to meet the highest medical standards in order to print personal protective equipment for our university hospital during the ongoing pandemic. Besides the chemical resistance and durability, as well as the ability to withstand steam sterilization, this polypropylene (PP) copolymer is characterized by its high purity, as achieved by highly efficient and selective catalytic polymerization. As the PP copolymer is suited to be printed with all common printers in fused filament fabrication (FFF), it offers an eco-friendly cost–benefit ratio, even for large-scale production. In addition, a digital workflow was established focusing on common desktop FFF printers in the medical sector. It comprises the simulation-based optimization of personalized print objects, considering the inherent material properties such as warping tendency, through to validation of the process chain by 3D scanning, sterilization, and biocompatibility analysis of the printed part. This combination of digital data processing and 3D printing with a sustainable and medically certified material showed great promise in establishing decentralized additive manufacturing in everyday hospital life to meet peaks in demand, supply bottlenecks, and enhanced personalized patient treatment.     

D-Sorbitol Physical Properties Effects on Filaments Used by 3D Printing Process for Personalized Medicine

Fused filament fabrication (FFF) is a process used to manufacture oral forms adapted to the needs of patients. Polyethylene oxide (PEO) filaments were produced by hot melt extrusion (HME) to obtain a filament suitable for the production of amiodarone hydrochloride oral forms by FFF 3D printing. In order to produce personalized oral forms adapted to the patient characteristics, filaments used by FFF must be controlled in terms of mass homogeneity along filament. This work highlights the relation between filament mass homogeneity and its diameter. This is why the impact of filler excipients physical properties was studied. It has been showed that the particle’s size distribution of the filler can modify the filament diameter variability which has had an impact on the mass of oral forms produced by FFF. Through this work it was shown that D-Sorbitol from Carlo Erba allows to obtain a diameter variability of less than 2% due to its unique particle’s size distribution. Using the filament produced by HME and an innovating calibration method based on the filament length, it has been possible to carry out three dosages of 125 mg, 750 mg and 1000 mg by 3D printing with acceptable mass uniformity.     

3D‐Printed Microfluidics

The advent of soft lithography allowed for an unprecedented expansion in the field of microfluidics. However, the vast majority of PDMS microfluidic devices are still made with extensive manual labor, are tethered to bulky control systems, and have cumbersome user interfaces, which all render commercialization difficult. On the other hand, 3D printing has begun to embrace the range of sizes and materials that appeal to the developers of microfluidic devices. Prior to fabrication, a design is digitally built as a detailed 3D CAD file. The design can be assembled in modules by remotely collaborating teams, and its mechanical and fluidic behavior can be simulated using finite‐element modeling. As structures are created by adding materials without the need for etching or dissolution, processing is environmentally friendly and economically efficient. We predict that in the next few years, 3D printing will replace most PDMS and plastic molding techniques in academia.     

Massively parallel implementation of 3D‐RISM calculation with volumetric 3D‐FFT

A new three‐dimensional reference interaction site model (3D‐RISM) program for massively parallel machines combined with the volumetric 3D fast Fourier transform (3D‐FFT) was developed, and tested on the RIKEN K supercomputer. The ordinary parallel 3D‐RISM program has a limitation on the number of parallelizations because of the limitations of the slab‐type 3D‐FFT. The volumetric 3D‐FFT relieves this limitation drastically. We tested the 3D‐RISM calculation on the large and fine calculation cell (2048³ grid points) on 16,384 nodes, each having eight CPU cores. The new 3D‐RISM program achieved excellent scalability to the parallelization, running on the RIKEN K supercomputer. As a benchmark application, we employed the program, combined with molecular dynamics simulation, to analyze the oligomerization process of chymotrypsin Inhibitor 2 mutant. The results demonstrate that the massive parallel 3D‐RISM program is effective to analyze the hydration properties of the large biomolecular systems. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Cell‐Laden Hydrogels for Multikingdom 3D Printing

Living materials are created through the embedding of live, whole cells into a matrix that can house and sustain the viability of the encapsulated cells. Through the immobilization of these cells, their bioactivity can be harnessed for applications such as bioreactors for the production of high‐value chemicals. While the interest in living materials is growing, many existing materials lack robust structure and are difficult to pattern. Furthermore, many living materials employ only one type of microorganism, or microbial consortia with little control over the arrangement of the various cell types. In this work, a Pluronic F127‐based hydrogel system is characterized for the encapsulation of algae, yeast, and bacteria to create living materials. This hydrogel system is also demonstrated to be an excellent material for additive manufacturing in the form of direct write 3D‐printing to spatially arrange the cells within a single printed construct. These living materials allow for the development of incredibly complex, immobilized consortia, and the results detailed herein further enhance the understanding of how cells behave within living material matrices. The utilization of these materials allows for interesting applications of multikingdom microbial cultures in immobilized bioreactor or biosensing technologies.     

一种用于FDM型3D打印的改性PBT

以对苯二甲酸(PTA)、间苯二甲酸(PIA)、癸二酸(SA)和1,4-丁二醇(BDO)为原料,通过直接酯化和减压缩聚的方法制备了一种适合熔融沉积打印(FDM)型3D打印的改性聚对苯二甲酸丁二醇酯(PBT)——聚对苯二甲酸间苯二甲酸癸二酸丁二醇酯(PBTIS)。采用核磁共振氢谱(1 H-NMR)、凝胶渗透色谱法(GPC)、差示扫描量热法(DSC)、黏度计和熔体仪、万能电子拉力机和冲击试验机分别研究了其热性能、流变性能和力学性能。研究表明:当n(PTA)∶n(PIA)=7∶3,SA的物质的量分数为3%~5%时,PBTIS具有合适的熔点、良好的拉伸强度和弯曲强度及悬梁缺口冲击强度等力学性能。用桌面拉丝挤出机将PBTIS样品制成卷材并用3D打印机打印,结果表明其可以流畅地打印出所设计的三维物件。     

3D‐Printing inside the Glovebox: A Versatile Tool for Inert‐Gas Chemistry Combined with Spectroscopy

3D‐Printing with the well‐established ‘Fused Deposition Modeling’ technology was used to print totally gas‐tight reaction vessels, combined with printed cuvettes, inside the inert‐gas atmosphere of a glovebox. During pauses of the print, the reaction flasks out of acrylonitrile butadiene styrene were filled with various reactants. After the basic test reactions to proof the oxygen tightness and investigations of the influence of printing within an inert‐gas atmosphere, scope and limitations of the method are presented by syntheses of new compounds with highly reactive reagents, such as trimethylaluminium, and reaction monitoring via UV/VIS, IR, and NMR spectroscopy. The applicable temperature range, the choice of solvents, the reaction times, and the analytical methods have been investigated in detail. A set of reaction flasks is presented, which allow routine inert‐gas syntheses and combined spectroscopy without modifications of the glovebox, the 3D‐printer, or the spectrometers. Overall, this demonstrates the potential of 3D‐printed reaction cuvettes to become a complementary standard method in inert‐gas chemistry.     

Effects of Printing Parameters on Properties of FDM 3D Printed Residue of Astragalus/Polylactic Acid Biomass Composites

In order to develop a new kind of filament material for the fused deposition modeling (FDM) 3D printing, the residue of Astragalus (ROA), one of the most important Chinese herbal medicines, and polylactic acid were chosen as the raw materials to FDM 3D print biomass composite specimens, the effects of the printing parameters on the properties of the specimens were investigated. The results indicated that the mechanical properties and thermal stability of the printed specimen were affected obviously by the parameters while the melting and crystallization behavior of the specimens were little affected. For the wettability, it was also little affected by the printing parameter except for the printing speed. Increasing the printing temperature and the filling density or reducing the printing speed and the layer thickness could improve both the mechanical properties and the thermal stability of the FDM 3D printed PLA/ROA composite specimen; reducing the deposition angle could also improve the mechanical properties while having little effect on the thermal stability of the specimen.     

3D Printing of Aniline Tetramer‐Grafted‐Polyethylenimine and Pluronic F127 Composites for Electroactive Scaffolds

Electroactive hydrogel scaffolds are fabricated by the 3D‐printing technique using composites of 30% Pluronic F127 and aniline tetramer‐grafted‐polyethylenimine (AT‐PEI) copolymers with various contents from 2.5% to 10%. The synthesized AT‐PEI copolymers can self‐assemble into nanoparticles with the diameter of ≈50 nm and display excellent electroactivity due to AT conjugation. The copolymers are then homogeneously distributed into 30% Pluronic F127 solution by virtue of the thermosensitivity of F127, denoted as F/AT‐PEI composites. Macroscopic photographs of latticed scaffolds elucidate their excellent printability of F/AT‐PEI hydrogels for the 3D‐printing technique. The conductivities of the printed F/AT‐PEI scaffolds are all higher than 2.0 × 10⁻³ S cm⁻¹, which are significantly improved compared with that of F127 scaffold with only 0.94 × 10⁻³ S cm⁻¹. Thus, the F/AT‐PEI scaffolds can be considered as candidates for application in electrical stimulation of tissue regeneration such as repair of muscle and cardiac nerve tissue.

     

All‐in‐One Cellulose Nanocrystals for 3D Printing of Nanocomposite Hydrogels

Cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) with >2000 photoactive groups on each can act as highly efficient initiators for radical polymerizations, cross‐linkers, as well as covalently embedded nanofillers for nanocomposite hydrogels. This is achieved by a simple and reliable method for surface modification of CNCs with a photoactive bis(acyl)phosphane oxide derivative. Shape‐persistent and free‐standing 3D structured objects were printed with a mono‐functional methacrylate, showing a superior swelling capacity and improved mechanical properties.     

Effects of different sterilization processes on the properties of a novel 3D‐printed polycaprolactone stent

Bioresorbable stents (BRS) offer the potential to improve long‐term patency rates by providing support just long enough for the artery to heal itself. While manufacturing methods to produce BRS using the appropriate architecture, material and mechanical studies, etc., have received much attention, the effects subsequent sterilization methods have on BRS properties are overlooked. Sterilization process can change a device's properties. This work presents the effects ethanol, ultraviolet light (UV), and antibiotic sterilization processes at 0.5, 1, 2, 4, 8, and 16 hours have on a novel 3D‐printed polycaprolactone stent. The stents were analysed using sterility tests, scanning electron microscopy, differential scanning calorimetry, thermogravimetric analysis, mass spectrometry, for molecular weight, and degradation tests. Results have shown ethanol to be an effective sterilization treatment as it barely affected the material's properties. On the other hand, UV had a considerable influence (mainly produced by the photodegradation of UV irradiation) on crystallinity and molecular weight. Lastly, while antibiotic sterilization did not affect crystallinity to the same degree, it did substantially reduce the molecular weight of the samples. Ethanol results in being the best sterilization method for the high material requirements that medical devices such as stents have.     

Ink‐Jet Printing of Linear and Star Polymers

Summary: The influence of architecture on ink‐jet printability of polymer solutions is investigated by comparing linear and 6‐arm star PMMA. At comparable concentration and molecular weight, filament formation is much more pronounced for linear PMMA than for star PMMA. Visual examination of filament stretching allows estimation of the involved elongation rates, which are at high voltages sufficiently large for coil‐stretch transition of the chains, suggesting its role in filament formation.

The results obtained in this study suggest a possible role of the coil‐stretch transition of the polymer chains in filament formation.     

3D‐Printed Titanium Cage with PVA‐Vancomycin Coating Prevents Surgical Site Infections (SSIs)

Many coating materials have been studied to prevent surgical site infections (SSIs). However, antibacterial coating on surfaces show weak adhesion using the traditional titanium (Ti) cage, resulting in low efficacy for preventing SSIs after spinal surgery. Herein, a 3D‐printed Ti cage combined with a drug‐releasing system is developed for in situ drug release and bacteria killing, leading to prevention of SSIs in vitro and in vivo. First, a 3D‐printed Ti cage is designed and prepared by the Electron Beam Melting (EBM) method. Second, polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) containing hydrophilic vancomycin hydrochloride (VH) is scattered across the surface of 3D‐printed porous Ti (Ti‐VH@PVA) cages. Ti‐VH@PVA cages show an efficient drug‐releasing profile and excellent bactericidal effect for three common bacteria after more than seven days in vitro. In addition, Ti‐VH@PVA cages exhibit reliable inhibition of inflammation associated with Staphylococcus aureus and effective bone regeneration capacity in a rabbit model of SSIs. The results indicate that Ti‐VH@PVA cages have potential advantages for preventing SSIs after spinal surgery.     

Aminothiazonaphthalic anhydride derivatives as photoinitiators for violet/blue LED‐Induced cationic and radical photopolymerizations and 3D‐Printing resins

The cations and radicals produced in aminothiazonaphthalic anhydride derivatives (ATNAs) combined with an iodonium salt, N‐vinylcarbazole, amine, or chloro triazine initiate the ring‐opening cationic polymerization of epoxides and the free radical polymerization of acrylates under LEDs at 405 or 455 nm. The photoinitiating ability of these novel photoinitiating systems is higher than that of the well‐known camphorquinone‐based systems. An example of the high reactivity of the new proposed photoinitiator is also provided in resins for 3D‐printing using a LED projector@405 nm. The chemical mechanisms are investigated by steady‐state photolysis, cyclic voltammetry, fluorescence, laser flash photolysis, and electron spin resonance spin‐trapping techniques. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2016 , 54, 1189–1196     

Stereocomplex poly(lactic acid) vascular stents by 3D‐printing with long chain branching structures: Toward desirable crystallization properties and mechanical performance

Using pyromelliticdianhydride (PMDA) and polyfunctional epoxy ether (PFE) as branching agent, long chain branching stereocomplex poly(L‐lactide)s and poly(D‐lactide)s was prepared by reactive processing, respectably. Then stereocomplex poly(lactide)s of long chain branching PLLA and PDLA (sc‐PLA/BA) was prepared by solution blending and its fabricated the vascular stents via 3D‐printing.The effects of branching structure on melt crystallization behavior of sc‐PLA/BA investigated by DSC. The influence of the branching agent content on the crystallization ability of samples shows a bell‐shaped relationship, there is a maximum point when the branching agent content is1.5 wt%. When the branching agent content is less than 1.5 wt%, the crystallization ability of the sample increased with the increasing of branching agent content. When the branching agent content exceeded than 1.5 wt%, the crystallization ability of the samples decreased with branching agent content increasing. Such behavior is as the linear PLA branched to dendrite configuration, the enrichment of segments around branching structure within branched chains promoted its nucleation. But the high degree of branching caused inter‐ or intrachians entanglement which obstructed the segments movement and growth into the crystals. The half‐time of crystallization (t_1/2) of the samples decreased from 6 minutes for initial sc‐PLA/BA‐0 to 3 minutes of sc‐PLA/BA‐1.5 wt% at 163°C. POM results indicated that nucleation density of sc‐PLA/BA significantly increased with the branching agent increasing. Moreover, mechanical testing demonstrated that forming branching structure could be an effective modification of the mechanical properties for sc‐PLA, its tensile strength and modulus increases from 57.3 MPa and 2.02 GPa to 70.4 MPa and 3.31 GPa, respectively. TGA results analyzed by FWO method and Kissinger method, indicated the apparent activation energy of sc‐PLA/BA samples increases from 96.8 to 113.3 kJ/mol, suggesting the improvement of heat resistance. The CCK‐8 assay, ALP assay and cell Live/Dead assay results indicated that sc‐PLA with branching structure presented very low cell cytotoxicity. Therefore, the long chain branching sc‐PLA matrix with branching agent could effectively improve its crystallization abilities, mechanical properties, heat resistance and biocompatibilities.     

Neue Zirconiumphosphatfluoride mit 3D‐Gerüststruktur

New Zirconium Phosphate Fluorides with 3D‐Framework From aqueous solutions of ZrOCl₂, H₃PO₄, HF, and various amines, two new compounds of the general formula [amH₂]_1/2[Zr₂(HPO₄)(PO₄)₂F] · nH₂O ( I : am = N,N‐dimethylethylenediamine, n = 0,5; II : am = N,N‐dimethyl‐1,3‐diaminopropane, n = 0) adopting the ZrPOF‐1 structure type have been synthesized under hydrothermal conditions. In contrast to the monoclinic ZrPOF‐1, both compounds crystallize in the space group P 1 with a = 6.611(3), b = 9.109(4), c = 11.560(5) Å, α = 85.62(4), β = 89.60(4), γ = 70.57(4)° in I , and a = 6.616(2), b = 9.045(3), c = 11.565(4) Å, α = 85.26(4), β = 88.86(4), γ = 71.46(4)° in II . Compound III (am = ethylenediamine, n = 0) has been obtained by dehydration of ZrPOF‐1 and occurs in the space group P1 with a = 6.605(2), b = 8.787(3), c = 11.499(5) Å, α = 93.07(4), β = 90.42(4) and γ = 104.66(4)°. The structural motifs of the frameworks of the three compounds have much in common. The template and the PO₃OH tetrahedra in I and II are disordered. Differences in the water content in both compounds are due to differences in the chain lengths of the amines. The absence of crystal water in compound III breaks the template disordering which is present in ZrPOF‐1. The rotation of the PO₃OH tetrahedra in II and III compared with I and ZrPOF‐1 is discussed in regard with the absence of stabilizing H‐bridges in the former compounds.     

3D Printing of Silk Protein Structures by Aqueous Solvent‐Directed Molecular Assembly

Hierarchical molecular assembly is a fundamental strategy for manufacturing protein structures in nature. However, to translate this natural strategy into advanced digital manufacturing like three‐dimensional (3D) printing remains a technical challenge. This work presents a 3D printing technique with silk fibroin to address this challenge, by rationally designing an aqueous salt bath capable of directing the hierarchical assembly of the protein molecules. This technique, conducted under aqueous and ambient conditions, results in 3D proteinaceous architectures characterized by intrinsic biocompatibility/biodegradability and robust mechanical features. The versatility of this method is shown in a diversity of 3D shapes and a range of functional components integrated into the 3D prints. The manufacturing capability is exemplified by the single‐step construction of perfusable microfluidic chips which eliminates the use of supporting or sacrificial materials. The 3D shaping capability of the protein material can benefit a multitude of biomedical devices, from drug delivery to surgical implants to tissue scaffolds. This work also provides insights into the recapitulation of solvent‐directed hierarchical molecular assembly for artificial manufacturing.     

Synthesis of some poly(4‐alkyl‐4‐azaheptamethylene‐D‐glucaramides)

Six 4‐alkyl‐4‐azaheptane‐1,7‐diamines, characterized as their solid bis(D ‐gluconamides), were prepared in a two‐step synthesis: bis(cyanoethylation) of the primary alkylamines (C₈–C₁₈, even‐numbered) followed by an efficient lithium aluminum hydride reduction of the resulting bisnitriles. The azadiamines were then used as monomers in condensation polymerizations with methyl D ‐glucarate 1,4‐lactone in a methanol solution, yielding polyhydroxypolyaminopolyamides isolated directly as white solids with varying hydrophobic/hydrophilic character. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci A: Polym Chem 38: 3892–3899, 2000     

Amphiphilic Copolymers of Polyfluorene Methacrylates Exhibiting Tunable Emissions for Ink‐Jet Printing

Functionalized polyfluorene receives more and more attention due to its wide applications. Here, the syntheses of three novel polyfluorene‐based methacrylate macromonomers exhibiting a vast flexibility for further applications are reported. Their emissions strongly depend on the end groups and thus the macromonomers provide blue, green, and red emissions simultaneously with the same excitation light of 365 nm. Their well‐defined copolymers with 2‐(dimethylamino) ethyl methacrylate via reversible addition‐fragmentation chain transfer polymerization are investigated in detail. These copolymers exhibit high quantum yields in solid film (up to 0.8), and self‐assemble into photoluminescent nanoparticles in aqueous solutions with pure blue, green, and red emissions. By simply mixing them, perfect white light emission with high quality is obtained. These aqueous nanoparticles solutions are ready for ink‐jet printing to produce exquisite bright and colorful fluorescent pictures.

     

An Improved Preparation of D‐Glyceraldehyde 3‐Phosphate and Its Use in the Synthesis of 1‐Deoxy‐D‐xylulose 5‐Phosphate

D ‐Glyceraldehyde 3‐phosphate (=D ‐GAP; 2 ) was prepared by an improved chemical method (Scheme 2), and it was then employed to synthesize 1‐deoxy‐D ‐xylulose 5‐phosphate (=DXP; 3 ) which is enzymatically one of the key intermediates in the MEP ( 4 ) terpenoid biosynthetic pathway (Scheme 1). The recombinant DXP synthase of Rhodobacter capsulatus was used to catalyze the condensation of D ‐glyceraldehyde 3‐phosphate ( 2 ) and pyruvate (=2‐oxopropanoate; 1 ) to produce the sugar phosphate 3 (Scheme 2). The simple two‐step chemoenzymatic route described affords DXP ( 3 ) with more than 70% overall yield and higher than 95% purity. The procedure may also be used for the synthesis of isotope‐labeled DXP ( 3 ) by using isotope‐labeled pyruvate.