Preparation and Characterization of 3D Printed Porous 45S5 Bioglass Bioceramic for Bone Tissue Engineering Application

Three-dimensional (3D) printing technology provides advanced technical support for designing personalized bone tissue engineering scaffold. In this study, two porous diffusing models, namely, average and layered perforated cylindrical scaffolds, were designed for bone tissue engineering scaffold. The designed models were fabricated by liquid crystal display mask stereolithography printing. Structural design and finite element mechanical analysis were conducted. 45S5 bioglass was selected as the raw material for preparing the printing inks for bone tissue engineering scaffolds. By adjusting the viscosity and temperature of the slurry, the maximum proportion of 45S5 bioglass (40 wt%) was added into the photosensitive resin for preparing 3D printing slurry. Our results indicated that an optimized sintering condition includes the debinding rate (0.5°C/min), and temperature raising rate (5°C/min) and sintering temperature (1100°C) were proposed to sinter 45S5 bioceramic scaffolds. The amorphous 45S5 bioglass showed good crystallization after sintering, and the scaffold porous structure showed good integrity. Micropores were observed in the struts which interconnected with each other. Moreover, the porosities were tested as 57% and 45% with a uniform pore distribution. The shrinkage rate was about 10% during sintering process due to binder burning and crystallization shrinkage. The compressive strength of the sintered scaffold was 0.71 ± 0.048 MPa and 2.13 ± 0.054 MPa, respectively, which are consistent with the finite element mechanical analysis simulation results. In conclusion, the layered perforated 45S5 bioglass scaffold shows good mechanical properties and porosity, indicating that it could be a promising candidate for bone tissue engineering.