A Sustainable Additive Approach for the Achievement of Tunable Porosity

Abstract

<p>This study aims to design a green additive approach for the fabrication of controlled porosity on hydrogels. Although hydrogels have been of common use in tissue engineering, the generation of controllable porosity remains an issue due to their swelling and degradation properties. Hydrogels in this study were fabricated by physical cross-linking and the porosity was generated by casting the solution in a 3D printed mold prior to physical cross-linking. This approach eliminates the use of chemical cross-linking compounds which are often toxic and not environmentally friendly. Polyvinyl alcohol was selected to validate this technique due to its biocompatibility and adequate mechanical properties. The microstructure, mechanical properties and deformation of the porous hydrogels were characterized. Results revealed that the proposed bioplotting technique reduced variation of pore size and allotted for the realization of controlled and tunable pore structures.</p>