posted on 2023-11-08, 19:00authored byTao Li, Zilin Peng, Qinniu Lv, Li Li, Chuhong Zhang, Long Pang, Chunsen Zhang, Yinghao Li, Yinghong Chen, Xin Tang
Poly(vinyl
alcohol) (PVA) exhibits a wide range of potential applications
in the biomedical field due to its favorable mechanical properties
and biocompatibility. However, few studies have been carried out on
selective laser sintering (SLS) of PVA due to its poor thermal processability.
In this study, in order to impart PVA powder the excellent thermal
processability, the molecular complexation technology was performed
to destroy the strong hydrogen bonds in PVA and thus significantly
reduced the PVA melting point and crystallinity to 190.9 °C and
27.9%, respectively. The modified PVA (MPVA) was then compounded with
hydroxyapatite (HA) to prepare PVA/HA composite powders suitable for
SLS 3D printing. The final SLS 3D-printed MPVA/HA composite porous
scaffolds show high precision and interconnected pores with a porosity
as high as 68.3%. The in vitro cell culture experiments revealed that
the sintered composite scaffolds could significantly promote the adhesion
and proliferation of osteoblasts and facilitate bone regeneration,
and the quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction results further
demonstrate that the printed MPVA/20HA scaffold could significantly
enhance the expression levels of both early osteogenic-specific marker
of alkaline phosphatase stain and runt-related transcription factor
2. Meanwhile, in in vivo experiments, it is encouragingly found that
the resultant MPVA/20HA SLS 3D-printed part has an obvious effect
on promoting the growth of new bone tissue as well as a better bone
regeneration capability. This work could provide a promising strategy
for fabrication of PVA scaffolds through SLS 3D printing, exhibiting
a great potential for clinical applications in bone tissue engineering.