Engineering of silicone-based blends for the masked stereolithography of biosilicate/carbon composite scaffolds
Paulina Ożóg, Hamada Elsayed, Luca Grigolato, Gianpaolo Savio, Jozef Kraxner, Dušan Galusek, Enrico Bernardo
Abstract
Silicone resins, filled with phosphates and other oxide fillers, have been recently proposed as feedstock for the manufacturing of scaffolds with a composition resembling that of commercial Biosilicate® glass-ceramics. Silicones and engineered fillers enable the preparation of novel carbon-containing Biosilicate-based composites and, fundamentally, the easy application of additive manufacturing technologies. After successful demonstration of the applicability of direct ink writing of silicone-based pastes, the present paper is dedicated to preparation of highly porous scaffolds obtained by masked stereolithography, starting from a simple blend of silicone resin with commercial photocurable acrylates. Deviations in the desired phase assemblage were corrected by calibration of the silicone/fillers ratio. The more advanced printing technology, combined with ceramic transformation, allowed fabrication of scaffolds with a complex geometry and a distinctive control of overall porosity.