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Abstract: The application of three-dimensional printed polymer scaffolds in repairing bone defects is a promising strategy. Among them, polycaprolactone (PCL) scaffolds are widely studied due to their good processability and controlled degradation rate. However, as an alternative graft for repairing bone defects, PCL materials have poor hydrophilicity, which is not conducive to cell adhesion and growth. In addition, the poor mechanical properties of PCL materials cannot meet the strength required to repair bone defects. In this paper, nano-zirconium dioxide (ZrO2) powder is embedded in PCL material through a melt-mixing process, and a regular grid scaffold is constructed by 3D printing. The embedding of nanometer zirconium dioxide powder improves the hydrophilicity and water absorption of the composite scaffold, which is conducive to cell adhesion, proliferation and growth and is beneficial to the exchange of nutrients. Therefore, the PCL/ZrO2 composite scaffold showed better biological activity in vitro. At the same time, the PCL/ZrO2 composite material system significantly improves the mechanical properties of the scaffold. Among them, compared with the pure PCL scaffold, the Young’s modulus is increased by about 0.4 times, and the compressive strength is increased by about 0.5 times. In addition, the osteogenic differentiation results also showed that the PCL/ZrO2 composite scaffold group showed better ALP activity and more effective bone mineralization than the pure PCL group. We believe that the 3D printed PCL/ZrO2 composite scaffold has certain application prospects in repairing bone defects.

湖州师范学院马志勇等 | 基于PCL和氧化锆纳米粒子的3D打印生物复合支架的制备和表征

本研究论文聚焦用于骨修复的生物复合支架的研制工作。三维打印的聚合物支架在修复骨缺损方面有较好的应用前景。其中，聚己内酯（PCL）支架由于其良好的加工性能和可控的降解速率而被广泛研究。然而，作为修复骨缺损的替代移植物，PCL材料的亲水性很差，这不利于细胞粘附和生长。此外，PCL材料较差的机械性能无法满足修复骨缺损所需的强度。本文通过熔融混合工艺将纳米二氧化锆（ZrO2）粉末嵌入PCL材料中，并通过3D打印构建规则的网格支架。纳米二氧化锆粉末的包埋提高了复合支架的亲水性和吸水率，有助于细胞的粘附、增殖和生长，且有利于营养物质的交换。因此，PCL / ZrO2复合支架在体外显示出更好的生物活性。同时，PCL / ZrO2复合材料体系显著改善了支架的机械性能。与纯PCL支架相比，杨氏模量提高了约40%，抗压强度提高了约50%。此外，成骨分化结果表明，与纯PCL组相比，PCL / ZrO2复合支架组具有更好的ALP活性和更有效的骨矿化作用。我们相信3D打印的PCL / ZrO2复合支架在修复骨缺损方面具有一定的应用前景。