Suspended 3D printing of polycaprolactone/hydroxyapatite composites for mimicking complex structured bone scaffolds

Kang, J, Shirzad, M, Ranganathan, P, Oh, D, Mondal, S, Oh, J, Gyun Lim, H, Bodaghi, M ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0707-944X and Yun Nam, S, 2025. Suspended 3D printing of polycaprolactone/hydroxyapatite composites for mimicking complex structured bone scaffolds. International Journal of Bioprinting. ISSN 2424-7723

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Abstract

Extrusion-based 3D printing has been rapidly advancing as a key technique for fabricating tissue engineering scaffolds. However, 3D printing complex structures with appropriate mechanical strength and biocompatibility remains a challenge. Suspended 3D printing is an emerging fabrication strategy that enables the creation of tissues or organs by a support medium that provides a stable printing environment without the need for additional support structures. This study presents a novel strategy for fabricating intricate scaffolds using suspended 3D printing of bioinks incorporating dissolved PCL (dPCL) and hydroxyapatite (HA). The optimized dPCL/HA bioink demonstrated up to an 85% reduction of print errors compared to conventional methods, significantly improving 3D printability. Moreover, mechanical assessments revealed a compressive Young's modulus approximately 50 MPa higher in dPCL/HA scaffolds than dPCL scaffolds. Furthermore, dPCL/HA scaffolds outperformed both PCL and dPCL scaffolds in cell proliferation tests. Complex 3D shapes, including helices, saddles, multi-curvature structures, hollow hemispheres, and zygomatic bones, were successfully 3D printed, demonstrating the ability to mimic natural and intricate anatomical structures of the human body. These approaches pave the way for 3D printing patient-specific and structurally robust bone constructs with enhanced mechanical and biological properties.

Item Type:	Journal article
Publication Title:	International Journal of Bioprinting
Creators:	Kang, J., Shirzad, M., Ranganathan, P., Oh, D., Mondal, S., Oh, J., Gyun Lim, H., Bodaghi, M. and Yun Nam, S.
Publisher:	AccScience Publishing
Date:	2 September 2025
ISSN:	2424-7723
Identifiers:	Number Type 10.36922/ijb025320319 DOI 2509215 Other
Rights:	© 2025 Author(s). This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, permitting distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Divisions:	Schools > School of Science and Technology
Record created by:	Laura Borcherds
Date Added:	07 Oct 2025 15:30
Last Modified:	07 Oct 2025 15:30
URI:	https://irep.ntu.ac.uk/id/eprint/54519

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