Improving printability of a thermoresponsive hydrogel biomaterial ink by nanoclay addition

As a promising biofabrication technology, extrusion-based bioprinting has gained significant attention in the last decade and major advances have been made in the development of bioinks. However, suitable synthetic and stimuli-responsive bioinks are underrepresented in this context. In this work, we described a hybrid system of nanoclay Laponite XLG and thermoresponsive block copolymer poly(2-methyl-2-oxazoline)-b-poly(2-n-propyl-2-oxazine) (PMeOx-b-PnPrOzi) as a novel biomaterial ink and discussed its critical properties relevant for extrusion-based bioprinting, including viscoelastic properties and printability. The hybrid hydrogel retains the thermogelling properties but is strengthened by the added clay (over 5 kPa of storage modulus and 240 Pa of yield stress). Importantly, the shear-thinning character is further enhanced, which, in combination with very rapid viscosity recovery (similar to 1 s) and structure recovery (similar to 10 s), is highly beneficial for extrusion-based 3D printing. Accordingly, various 3D patterns could be printed with markedly enhanced resolution and shape fidelity compared to the biomaterial ink without added clay. Graphic abstract

Automated summary

This study presents a hybrid system of nanoclay and thermoresponsive block copolymer as a novel biomaterial ink, demonstrating improved mechanical properties and enhanced printing quality for extrusion-based bioprinting.