Ferric ion crosslinking-based 3D printing of graphene oxide and its
evaluation as bio-scaffold in tissue engineering
Abstract
As a precursor of graphene, graphene oxide (GO) exhibits excellent
mechanical, thermal, and electrical properties, besides appreciable
biocompatibility in tissue engineering applications. However, the
current GO-3D fabrication technology is still in need of optimization
and simplification in order to ensure fine architecture and reasonable
mechanical property, which would further promote the performance of GO
as bio-scaffolds in cell or microorganism attachment and in material
transformation. To address this issue, we proposed a GO ink, with
appreciable rheological properties and excellent printing performance
via high-speed centrifugation and ferric ion-assisted cross-linking. A
woodpile structure with controllable micro-pores was produced by
micro-extrusion-based 3D printing technology followed by an optimized
freeze-drying process. Cellular adhesion and viability were verified by
inoculation and culture of HepaRG cells using the fabricated GO 3D
structure, thus suggesting ferric ion-assisted cross-linking and
controllable pore distribution to improve the performance of GO
construct as a bio-scaffold for in-vitro liver tissue models.