2025-04-30

Preparation, mechanical and biological properties of inkjet printed alginate/gelatin hydrogel

Journal of Bionic Engineering

3D printing made remarkable progress in soft tissue reconstruction by custom designing complex multiple materials implants for patient specific geometry. This paper aims at inkjet printing of mechanical reinforced hy-drogels with excellent biological properties. Here, we developed double crosslinking ink by testing the rheological properties of sodium alginate ink, sodium alginate/transglutaminase ink, calcium chloride ink and gelatin/calcium chloride ink. The result show that 4% (w/v) sodium alginate/0.8% (w/v) transglutaminase ink and 4% (w/v) gela-tin/3% (w/v) calcium chloride ink shows the optimal printability for inkjet printing hydrogel. The mechanical properties and cellular responses of alginate/gelatin hydrogels with different gelatin content were characterized by scanning electron microscope, mechanical testing machine and laser confocal microscope. The compressive modu-lus of alginate/gelatin hydrogels could be adjusted from 19.2±1.25 kPa to 65.9±3.31 kPa by increasing the content of gelatin. After a week incubation, fibroblasts proliferation rate of the printed hydrogels was improved with the increase of gelatin content in alginate/gelatin hydrogel. The highest cell proliferation rate (497%) was noted in 4.5% (w/v) gelatin hydrogels. We feel that the proposed printing technique and the double crosslinking ink will be utilized to fabricate 3D structures that can potentially mimic the function of native tissues. DOI 10.1007/s42235-021-0036-9

T Jiao, Q Lian*, TZ Zhao, HC Wang, DC Li

18(3)

574-583

No

2021-06-12