Cellulose-in-cellulose 3D-printed bioaerogels for bone tissue engineering

Personalized scaffolds able to promote bone tissue regeneration are needed to enhance natural
healing of defects coming from fractures or degenerative pathologies. Bone implants must be
bio- and hemocompatible, while presenting good mechanical performance and personalizationto-patient. Furthermore, all scaffolds must be sterilized at a medical grade prior to be implanted.
In this work cellulose-in-cellulose 3D-printed aerogels were fabricated by 3D-printing of
methylcellulose-bacterial cellulose nanofibers based inks, and subsequent scCO2 drying and
sterilization of thus obtained scaffolds. Textural characterization was performed by TEM, SEM
and nitrogen adsorcion/ desorcion analysis and biological properties were assessed by cyto-,
hemocompatibility and Artemia salina assays. Magnetic evaluation of nanoparticles
incorporated into scaffolds was also carried out regarding bone tissue engineering applications.
The work entitled “Cellulose-in-cellulose 3D-printed bioaerogels for bone tissue engineering”
has been published in Cellulose journal (I.F. 5.7, December 2023). This work comes from a
collaboration between the University of Santiago de Compostela, the University of Lisbon, and
the University of Barcelona.