3D Bioplotter Research Papers

High stretchability and mechanical stability are the key properties of a conductive polymer composite structure. In this work, an anisotropic composite is fabricated by wet 3D printing of epoxy crosslinked chitosan/carbon microtubes. The carbon microtubes were synthesized through a high temperature carbonization of chemically purified cellulose fibres. After the chemical treatment and high temperature carbonization, the removal amorphous substrates from the core of cotton fibres results in the formation of a tubular structure. Here, chitosan which is an abundant natural polymer was used as the composite matrix. It was found that the epoxy crosslinking increases the stretchability of composite filaments.

Extrusion processing of carbon tubes can be problematic due to their poor interfacial interactions with polymeric matrices. Surface chemical modification of carbon tubes can be utilized to create bonding sites to form networks with polymer chains. However, chemical reactions resulting in intermolecular primary bonding limit processability of extrudate, since they cause unstable rheological behaviour, and thus decrease the stock holding time, which is determinative in extrusion. This study presents a method for the synthesis of carbon microtubes with physically modified surface area to improve the filler and matrix interfacial interactions. The key concept is the formation of a nanogrooved topography,…

3D printing technology is driving innovation in a wide variety of disciplines, and is beginning to make inroads into the fields of medicine and biology. In particular, 3D printing is being increasingly utilized for the design and fabrication of three-dimensional cell culture scaffolds. This technology allows for scaffolds to be produced rapidly while maintaining a great deal of control over the matrix architecture. This paper presents an effective technique for rapidly designing and fabricating scaffolds from silicone rubber and polycaprolactone (PCL), appropriate for primary human cardiomyocyte cell cultures. Additionally, a stimulation device is developed and presented which can provide 6…