Cellulose Nanofibers for the Enhancement of Printability of Low Viscosity Gelatin Derivatives

Abstract

Inadequate rheological properties of gelatin methacrylamide (GelMA) were successfully improved by incorporating cellulose nanofibers (CNFs), such that the printed scaffolds could maintain their structural fidelity during the three-dimensional (3D) bio-printing process. The CNFs provided an outstanding shear thinning property, and the GelMA/CNF inks exhibited high zero shear viscosity and structural fidelity under a low dispensing pressure. After evaluating the printability, composite inks containing 2% w/v CNF were observed to have an optimal concentration of CNF to prepare 3D print stable constructs. Therefore, these inks were used to manufacture human nose and ear structures, producing highly porous structures in the printed composite hydrogels. Furthermore, the mechanical stability of the GelMA/CNF composite hydrogel was increased when CNFs were incorporated, which indicated that CNFs played an important role in enhancing the structural properties of the composite hydrogels. Additionally, the biocompatibility of CNF-reinforced hydrogels was evaluated using a fibroblast cell line.

Gelatin‐polysaccharide composite scaffolds for 3D cell culture and tissue engineering: Towards natural therapeutics

“…The scaffolds provided enhanced bone formation and better collagen matrix deposition compared to the control . Besides the biological benefits, cellulose nanofibers have imparted printability to gelatin‐based hydrogels, wherein CNFs enhanced the structural integrity and increased the mechanical stability of the composites . Bacterial cellulose–gelatin composite hydrogels have been used as versatile 3D scaffolds for culturing breast cancer cells to provide in vitro models of tumor microenvironments .…”

“…74 (d) Chitin derived from the crab shell and its representative structure containing repeating units of disaccharide acetylglucosamine; N-deacetylation of chitin results in chitosan, a polysaccharide made up of repeating units of randomly distributed β-(1 ! 4) linked D-glucosamine and N-acetyl-D-glucosamine; the properties of chitin and chitosan the biological benefits, cellulose nanofibers have imparted printabilityto gelatin-based hydrogels, wherein CNFs enhanced the structural integrity and increased the mechanical stability of the composites 101.…”

Nanocellulose nanocomposite hydrogels: technological and environmental issues

“…Shin et al 118 investigated the use of CNFs as a viscosity modifier and mechanical reinforcement in biotins of gelatin modified with methacrylamide groups containing fibroblast cells (Fig. 11).…”

Engineered 3D Polymer and Hydrogel Microenvironments for Cell Culture Applications

“…The alginate/nano-cellulose bioink system, including variations such as sodium alginate [268], alginate sulphate [267], and the various phases of nano-cellulose, have been reported to have better performance than, for example, hyaluronic acid/nano-cellulose [266]. Gelatin/nano-cellulose based bioinks combined with oxidation also have no cytotoxicity, a pore size of~600 µm, good cell viability, improved mechanical properties (compressive modulus from 0.5 to 8.5 kPa with the addition of 2% w/v nano-cellulose), and improved print properties [284][285][286]. PEGDA/nano-cellulose structures fabricated by SLA showed high NIH 3T3 cell viability [274].…”