Influence of selective laser sintering process parameters on microstructure and physicochemical properties of poly(vinyl alcohol) for the production of scaffolds
ISSN: 1355-2546
Article publication date: 10 June 2020
Issue publication date: 19 June 2020
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to investigate the production of scaffolds by selective laser sintering (SLS) using poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) polymer, for in vitro studies, a relatively new and growing area in which scaffolds could be used in the design of three-dimensional models for in vitro disease model or tissue equivalent for safety and effectiveness tests.
Design/methodology/approach
The influence of the SLS process parameters laser power, 26 W and 32 W, and number of laser scans, 1, 2, 4 and 6, on the surface microstructure of the samples and on the degree of crystallinity and chemical stability of PVA material, was investigated using powder with particle size of 20-320 µm. Laser sintered PVA samples were subjected to cell culture tests using osteoblastic cells derived from human osteosarcoma (SaOs-2).
Findings
The laser power has no significant influence on the microstructure of the laser-sintered samples, however the number of scans has a considerable influence on the sintering degree; the SLS process causes a decrease in the degree of crystallinity and changes the chemical structure of the as-received PVA, especially when using higher laser power and more number of scans. Preliminary in vitro cell culture tests show that the laser-sintered PVA material is biocompatible with SaOs-2 cells.
Originality/value
SLS offers good potential for the fabrication of scaffolds and thus, may be applied as an alternative to conventional scaffold fabrication processes to overcome their limitations.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
This study was financed in part by the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior – Brasil (CAPES) – Finance Code 001. The authors appreciate the support from Centro de Tecnologia da Informação Renato Archer (CTI) and Laboratório de Espectroscopia Vibracional de Infravermelho at Universidade Federal do Paraná (UFPR).
Citation
Higa, C.F., Gradowski, T., Elifio-Esposito, S., de Oliveira, M.F., Inforçatti, P., da Silva, J.V.L., Amorim, F.L. and Meruvia, M.S. (2020), "Influence of selective laser sintering process parameters on microstructure and physicochemical properties of poly(vinyl alcohol) for the production of scaffolds", Rapid Prototyping Journal, Vol. 26 No. 6, pp. 1155-1164. https://doi.org/10.1108/RPJ-01-2019-0021
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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