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3D Printing PDMS Elastomer in a Hydrophilic Support Bath via Freeform Reversible Embedding

[Image: see text] Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) elastomer is used in a wide range of biomaterial applications including microfluidics, cell culture substrates, flexible electronics, and medical devices. However, it has proved challenging to 3D print PDMS in complex structures due to its low elastic mo...

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Autores principales: Hinton, Thomas J., Hudson, Andrew, Pusch, Kira, Lee, Andrew, Feinberg, Adam W.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: American Chemical Society 2016
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5059754/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27747289
http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/acsbiomaterials.6b00170
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author Hinton, Thomas J.
Hudson, Andrew
Pusch, Kira
Lee, Andrew
Feinberg, Adam W.
author_facet Hinton, Thomas J.
Hudson, Andrew
Pusch, Kira
Lee, Andrew
Feinberg, Adam W.
author_sort Hinton, Thomas J.
collection PubMed
description [Image: see text] Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) elastomer is used in a wide range of biomaterial applications including microfluidics, cell culture substrates, flexible electronics, and medical devices. However, it has proved challenging to 3D print PDMS in complex structures due to its low elastic modulus and need for support during the printing process. Here we demonstrate the 3D printing of hydrophobic PDMS prepolymer resins within a hydrophilic Carbopol gel support via freeform reversible embedding (FRE). In the FRE printing process, the Carbopol support acts as a Bingham plastic that yields and fluidizes when the syringe tip of the 3D printer moves through it, but acts as a solid for the PDMS extruded within it. This, in combination with the immiscibility of hydrophobic PDMS in the hydrophilic Carbopol, confines the PDMS prepolymer within the support for curing times up to 72 h while maintaining dimensional stability. After printing and curing, the Carbopol support gel releases the embedded PDMS prints by using phosphate buffered saline solution to reduce the Carbopol yield stress. As proof-of-concept, we used Sylgard 184 PDMS to 3D print linear and helical filaments via continuous extrusion and cylindrical and helical tubes via layer-by-layer fabrication. Importantly, we show that the 3D printed tubes were manifold and perfusable. The results demonstrate that hydrophobic polymers with low viscosity and long cure times can be 3D printed using a hydrophilic support, expanding the range of biomaterials that can be used in additive manufacturing. Further, by implementing the technology using low cost open-source hardware and software tools, the FRE printing technique can be rapidly implemented for research applications.
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spelling pubmed-50597542016-10-13 3D Printing PDMS Elastomer in a Hydrophilic Support Bath via Freeform Reversible Embedding Hinton, Thomas J. Hudson, Andrew Pusch, Kira Lee, Andrew Feinberg, Adam W. ACS Biomater Sci Eng [Image: see text] Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) elastomer is used in a wide range of biomaterial applications including microfluidics, cell culture substrates, flexible electronics, and medical devices. However, it has proved challenging to 3D print PDMS in complex structures due to its low elastic modulus and need for support during the printing process. Here we demonstrate the 3D printing of hydrophobic PDMS prepolymer resins within a hydrophilic Carbopol gel support via freeform reversible embedding (FRE). In the FRE printing process, the Carbopol support acts as a Bingham plastic that yields and fluidizes when the syringe tip of the 3D printer moves through it, but acts as a solid for the PDMS extruded within it. This, in combination with the immiscibility of hydrophobic PDMS in the hydrophilic Carbopol, confines the PDMS prepolymer within the support for curing times up to 72 h while maintaining dimensional stability. After printing and curing, the Carbopol support gel releases the embedded PDMS prints by using phosphate buffered saline solution to reduce the Carbopol yield stress. As proof-of-concept, we used Sylgard 184 PDMS to 3D print linear and helical filaments via continuous extrusion and cylindrical and helical tubes via layer-by-layer fabrication. Importantly, we show that the 3D printed tubes were manifold and perfusable. The results demonstrate that hydrophobic polymers with low viscosity and long cure times can be 3D printed using a hydrophilic support, expanding the range of biomaterials that can be used in additive manufacturing. Further, by implementing the technology using low cost open-source hardware and software tools, the FRE printing technique can be rapidly implemented for research applications. American Chemical Society 2016-05-04 2016-10-10 /pmc/articles/PMC5059754/ /pubmed/27747289 http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/acsbiomaterials.6b00170 Text en Copyright © 2016 American Chemical Society This is an open access article published under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) License (http://pubs.acs.org/page/policy/authorchoice_ccby_termsofuse.html) , which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the author and source are cited.
spellingShingle Hinton, Thomas J.
Hudson, Andrew
Pusch, Kira
Lee, Andrew
Feinberg, Adam W.
3D Printing PDMS Elastomer in a Hydrophilic Support Bath via Freeform Reversible Embedding
title 3D Printing PDMS Elastomer in a Hydrophilic Support Bath via Freeform Reversible Embedding
title_full 3D Printing PDMS Elastomer in a Hydrophilic Support Bath via Freeform Reversible Embedding
title_fullStr 3D Printing PDMS Elastomer in a Hydrophilic Support Bath via Freeform Reversible Embedding
title_full_unstemmed 3D Printing PDMS Elastomer in a Hydrophilic Support Bath via Freeform Reversible Embedding
title_short 3D Printing PDMS Elastomer in a Hydrophilic Support Bath via Freeform Reversible Embedding
title_sort 3d printing pdms elastomer in a hydrophilic support bath via freeform reversible embedding
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5059754/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27747289
http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/acsbiomaterials.6b00170
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