3D Nanocomposite Hydrogel Scaffolds Fabricated by Rapid Prototyping for Bone Tissue Engineering

Colloidal gels made of oppositely charged nanoparticles are a novel class of hydrogels and can exhibit pseudoplastic behavior which will enable them to mold easily into specific shapes. These moldable gels can be used as building blocks to self-assemble into integral scaffolds from bottom to up through electrostatic forces. However, they are too weak to maintain scaffold morphology just depending on interparticle interactions such as Van der Waals attraction and electrostatic forces especially for bone tissue engineering. In this study, oppositely charged gelatin nanoparticles were firstly prepared by two-step desolvation method, followed by the mixture with water to form colloid gels. To solve the problem of weak mechanical performance of colloid gels, gelatin macromolecules were introduced into the prepared gels to form blend gels. The blend gels can be easily processed into three-dimensional （3D） porous scaffolds via motor assisted microsyringe （MAM） system, a nozzle-based rapid prototyping technology, under mild conditions. After fabrication the scaffolds were erosslinked by glutaraldehyde （ GA, 25 % solution in water by weight）, then the crosslinked gelatin macromolecules network could form to improve the mechanical properties of colloid gels. The average particle size and zeta potential of gdatin nanoparticles were measured by Nano- ZS instrument. The morphology and microstructures of scaffolds were characterized by macroscopic images. The mechanical properties of the scaffolds were studied by a universal material testing machine.     

3D打印技术制备明胶纳米微球基复合凝胶支架

以明胶为原料,使用两步去溶剂法分别合成了具有相反电荷的两种纳米微球,将它们混合后分别溶于水、明胶溶液和丝素蛋白溶液形成3种凝胶.使用3D打印技术对3种凝胶进行加工,成功制备了3种三维多孔的支架.明胶增强的支架与丝素蛋白增强的支架在冷冻干燥以后分别使用1-乙基-(3-二甲基氨基丙基)碳二亚胺盐酸盐(EDC)/羟基丁二酰亚胺(NHS)和乙醇进行交联.通过扫描电镜(SEM)观察支架的形态并研究支架的膨胀性质.实验结果表明,仅靠纳米微球之间相互的作用力无法维持支架在水中的稳定结构,而使用明胶和丝素蛋白增强的支架则可以克服这种缺点.