3D-printed bioactive Chitosan/Alginate/Hardystonite scaffold for bone tissue engineering: Synthesis and characterization

In this study, scaffolds based on chitosan/Alginate/Hardystonite (Cs/Alg/HD) were developed for bone tissue engineering (BTE). For this aim, the bioactive HD powder was synthesized and added to CS/Alg at four compositions including 0,40,55 and 70, and turned into well-ordered porous scaffolds using the direct ink writing 3D printing technique and characterized. In accordance with the results, CsAlg-HD70 demonstrated the highest yield strength (1.38 MPa) and elastic modulus (125.71 MPa), as well as the highest degradation rate and bioactivity among all compositions. The results also exhibited that the addition of HD particles had a positive effect on cell viability and attachment so that the viability of MG-63 cells exposed to the extract of the prepared scaffolds as in the case of CsAlg-HD40, reached 150% on the 7th day. Finally, the obtained results confirmed that the scaffolds prepared from CS/Alg and HD can be considered a promising alternative for BTE.