CERAMIC ARCHITECTURES AS MODELS FOR 3D PRINTED TISSUE ENGINEERING APPLICATIONS

Shrinkage of ceramic objects produced by Fused Depositon Ceramics 3D printing technology was studied as model procedure for production of biocompatible scaffolds. The formulation of ceramic composite filament tested was based on components such as aluminium and silicium oxides and thermoplastic polymer. The resulting ceramic material after sintering is approaching the chemical composition of the mullite ceramics, which has several interesting material properties. The shrinkage of the produced testing objects was studied as function of the particle content in starting composite and sintering temperature. Observed shrinkage of the ceramic bodies produced was on the level of 17% for 65 weight % and the 23% for 40 weight % of inorganic filler content at temperature 1200 °C, respectively, with well maintained shape. The tested ceramic scaffolds were produced using slice thickness of 0.50 mm and fill gap of 0.58 mm, with regular rectilinear infill pores generated by Slic3r