Additive Manufacturing of Anatomical Poly(d,l-lactide) Scaffolds

Poly(lactide) (PLA) is one of the most investigated semicrystalline polymers for material extrusion (MEX) additive manufacturing (AM) techniques based on polymer melt processing. Research on its application for the development of customized devices tailored to specific anatomical parts of the human...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Polymers 2022-09, Vol.14 (19), p.4057
Main Authors: Puppi, Dario, Pecorini, Gianni, Parrini, Gianluca
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
3D printing
Additive manufacturing
Biodegradation
CAD
CAD/CAM
CAM
Computer aided design
Computer aided manufacturing
Elongation
Lactic acid
Mechanical properties
Modulus of elasticity
NMR
NMR spectroscopy
Nuclear magnetic resonance
Nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy
Polymers
Redevelopment
Scaffolds
Scanning electron microscopy
Size exclusion chromatography
Stereoisomers
Thermogravimetric analysis
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Summary:Poly(lactide) (PLA) is one of the most investigated semicrystalline polymers for material extrusion (MEX) additive manufacturing (AM) techniques based on polymer melt processing. Research on its application for the development of customized devices tailored to specific anatomical parts of the human body can provide new personalized medicine strategies. This research activity was aimed at testing a new multifunctional AM system for the design and fabrication by MEX of anatomical and dog-bone-shaped PLA samples with different infill densities and deposition angles. In particular, a commercial PLA filament was employed to validate the computer-aided design (CAD) and manufacturing (CAM) process for the development of scaffold prototypes modeled on a human bone defect. Physical-chemical characterization of the obtained samples by 1H-NMR spectroscopy, size exclusion chromatography (SEC), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) demonstrated a small reduction of polymer molecular weight (~5%) due to thermal processing, as well as that the commercial polymer employed was a semicrystalline poly(d,l-lactide). Mechanical characterization highlighted the possibility of tuning elastic modulus and strength, as well as the elongation at break up to a 60% value by varying infill parameters.
ISSN:2073-4360
2073-4360
DOI:10.3390/polym14194057