An Update on the Use of Alginate in Additive Biofabrication Techniques

Abstract

Background: Solid free forming (SFF) technique also called additive manufacturing process is immensely popular for biofabrication owing to its high accuracy, precision and reproducibility. Method: SFF techniques like stereolithography, selective laser sintering, fused deposition modeling, extrusion printing, and inkjet printing create three dimension (3D) structures by layer by layer processing of the material. To achieve desirable results, selection of the appropriate technique is an important aspect and it is based on the nature of biomaterial or bioink to be processed. Result & Conclusion: Alginate is a commonly employed bioink in biofabrication process, attributable to its nontoxic, biodegradable and biocompatible nature; low cost; and tendency to form hydrogel under mild conditions. Furthermore, control on its rheological properties like viscosity and shear thinning, makes this natural anionic polymer an appropriate candidate for many of the SFF techniques. It is endeavoured in the present review to highlight the status of alginate as bioink in various SFF techniques.

Bioprintable Lung Extracellular Matrix Hydrogel Scaffolds for 3D Culture of Mesenchymal Stromal Cells

“…The optimization of the hydrogel preparation method described herein, by solubilizing the powder at higher concentrations than previously published works, produced self-standing 3D scaffolds which are compatible with bioprinting technology, thus opening the possibility for high-throughput automated biofabrication of the 3D cultures, thus reducing the variability respect to manual procedures. Decellularized ECM-derived bioinks, due to their poor viscoelastic properties, commonly need to be mixed with other materials (alginate is the most used [ 50 , 51 ]) or methacrylated alginate [ 52 , 53 ] to be effectively bioprinted [ 54 ]. The main reason is that the concentration at which the ECM powder can be solubilized is usually low, as the most extended protocol is the developed by Pati and Cho [ 34 ] where the powder is solubilized at around 3 mg/mL and then the use of polycaprolactone polymer (PCL) is needed to support the structures.…”

Recent trends in functional characteristics and degradation methods of alginate

“…It can also be added as an auxiliary material to drugs, slowing down the absorption of drugs by the body, prolonging drug efficacy, and reducing drug side effects. In the chemical industry, it can be applied to papermaking, sewage treatment, and can also be used as various dyes in the textile industry 14 ; In agriculture, it can be used as insecticides, growth promoting agents, water retaining agents, antiviral materials, etc; In the cosmetics industry, it can be used in the processing and production of daily necessities such as shampoo, toothpaste and facial mask. In addition, alginate, as a third-generation material for producing biofuels, can be used for the production and manufacturing of bioethanol 15 , making it a widely studied hotspot both domestically and internationally due to its application value.…”