Investigation on the printability of bioink based on alginate-gelatin hydrogel and liquid crystals

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Abstract
Bioinks of 3D bioprinting have significant potential application in the field of tissue engineering to support cell attachment and proliferation. In this work, the alginate-gelatin-CELC (AGLC) bioink based on different compositions of alginate-gelatin (AG) hydrogel and cholesteryl ester liquid crystals (CELC) was prepared. Primarily, the alginate-gelatin hydrogel with certain concentration of Gelatin (10-50%w/v) was investigated. The printability of the hydrogel reached a minimum width of 1.8 mm at a flow rate of 1 mL/min when the Gelatin concentration was increased to 50 % w/v (AG1050). Subsequently, the respective polymers with 10% w/v Alginate and50% w/v Gelatin blended with 1%, 5%, 10%, 20%, 40%, and 60% w/v of CELC in the preparation of the alginate-gelatin-CELC bioink was further investigated. The printability of the bioink was examined by micro-extrusion based 3D bioprinter. The printability of the bioink enhanced by 27.8% as compared to AG1050 and reached a minimum width of 1.3 mm at a flow rate of 1 mL/min when the CELC concentration was increased to 40% and 60%. The tested properties of the bioink show that the CELC improve shear-thinning and lipid moieties properties to the composite bioink and hence, enhances its printability.