Effect of Silk Fibroin Concentration on the Properties of Polyethylene Glycol Dimethacrylates for Digital Light Processing Printing

Abstract

Attempts are made to use silk fibroin (SF), which is a protein produced by the silkworm, as a scaffold material in the field of regenerative medicine due to its high biocompatibility. Herein, the concentration of SF is varied and mixed with the light‐curing resin polyethylene glycol dimethacrylate (PEGDMA) to create a bioink, and the hydrogel is printed by digital light processing (DLP) 3D printing. Then, to investigate the properties of the printed hydrogel, scanning electron microscope (SEM) observation, swelling behavior measurement, and compression testing are conducted. The properties of hydrogels depend on the concentration of SF, and this result indicates that it is possible to create a scaffold with properties suitable for some tissue by controlling the amount of SF.