Fabrication and characterization of polylactic acid (pla) blend biomaterial using 3d printing for potential application in tissue engineering
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Date
2018-06
Authors
Chow, Li Chin
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Abstract
In this study, it was to study the effect of plasticizer on the mechanical properties of
three-dimensional (3D) printed polylactic acid (PLA) blend system, for potential
application as scaffolding material in tissue engineering. The PLA was plasticized with
Polyethylene glycol (Mw-6,000 g/mol) or Triethylene glycol (Mw-150 g/mol) in
various plasticizer concentrations (0, 5, 10, 15, 20, and 25 wt%) using single screw
extrusion. With the incorporation of such plasticizer into PLA matrix, the toughness
properties e.g. elongation at break and impact strength of PLA specimen improved due
to reduce in stiffness of plasticized PLA. Nevertheless, the tensile and flexural strength
decreases, as compared to neat PLA. In related to plasticizer content, the plasticized
PLA achieved optimum mechanical performance at 10 wt% and 15 wt% respectively
for PEG and TEG. Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy reveals the physical
interaction between PLA and its plasticizer. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC)
study reveals decrease in glass transition temperature as concentration of plasticizer
increases. However, some extent of phase separation has been found when PEG and
TEG incorporated greater than 10 wt% and 15 wt% respectively. Scanning electron
microscopy (SEM) observations reveals the plasticizer lump in the PLA matrix at high
concentration of plasticizer. Besides, the mechanical properties obtained from 3D
printed specimen were lower than compression molding technique. However, the
developed 3D printed plasticized PLA had achieved desired mechanical flexibility
improvement with acquired strength for support tissue regeneration in scaffold.