Research Projects

With compression, the piezoelectrical materials result in electrical stimuli which was proved to enhance the proliferation and osteoconduction of bone cells. The piezoelectrical materials were thus applied in bone regeneration. However, the three-dimensional structures are necessary to guide cell growth in tissue engineering for efficient bone regeneration. Many researches indicated that the porous structures would further promote the piezoelectrical signals, too. That is to say, the piezoelectrical 3D scaffolds are highly potential in bone tissue engineering. However, there is no efficient technique to fabricate porous piezoelectrical scaffolds with well-designed pore structures and mechanical properties till now. It is difficult to create precise pores by using conventional methods. The expression of piezoelectrical properties is highly related to the three-dimensional structures, which dominate the cell behaviors. Thus, the structures must be precisely controlled for the analysis of scaffolds compression, piezoelectrical stimuli, and cell responses.

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We successfully prepared piezoelectrical photo-resin for 3D printing. The post-treatment of polarization is not necessary because of the crystallization induction caused by graphene. We will analyze the resin formulation to control the mechanical properties and stability of 3D-printed scaffolds. Due to the high resolution of photo-curing 3D printing, we are able to design various accurate structures, and the intensity of piezoelectrical signals can be adjusted by formulation and conversion rate. In this research, the correlations between porous structures, compression behaviors and piezoelectrical signals are studied, followed by the investigation of proliferation and differentiation of bone cells.