Additive Manufacturing of Nanocellulose Aerogels with Structure‐Oriented Thermal, Mechanical, and Biological Properties

• DOI: 10.1002/advs.202307921
• Publication Date: 2024-03-13T09:07:32Z
• Authors: Deeptanshu Sivaraman; Yannick Nagel; Gilberto Siqueira; Parth Chansoria; Jonathan Avaro; Antonia Neels; Gustav Nyström; Zhaoxia Sun; Jing Wang; Zhengyuan Pan; Ana Iglesias‐Mejuto; Inés Ardao; Carlos A. García‐...; Mengmeng Li; Tingting Wu; Marco Lattuada; Wim J. Malfait; Shanyu Zhao
• Keywords: 0303 health sciences; Silver; Science; Q; Nanofibers; Metal Nanoparticles; alignment; anisotropic; alignment; anisotropic; cellular viability; cellulose aerogel; thermal insulation; Anti-Bacterial Agents; Mice; 03 medical and health sciences; cellulose aerogel; Printing, Three-Dimensional; NIH 3T3 Cells; thermal insulation; Animals; Cellulose; Gels; Research Articles; cellular viability

AbstractAdditive manufacturing (AM) is widely recognized as a versatile tool for achieving complex geometries and customized functionalities in designed materials. However, the challenge lies in selecting an appropriate AM method that simultaneously realizes desired microstructures and macroscopic geometrical designs in a single sample. This study presents a direct ink writing method for 3D printing intricate, high‐fidelity macroscopic cellulose aerogel forms. The resulting aerogels exhibit tunable anisotropic mechanical and thermal characteristics by incorporating fibers of different length scales into the hydrogel inks. The alignment of nanofibers significantly enhances mechanical strength and thermal resistance, leading to higher thermal conductivities in the longitudinal direction (65 mW m−1 K−1) compared to the transverse direction (24 mW m−1 K−1). Moreover, the rehydration of printed cellulose aerogels for biomedical applications preserves their high surface area (≈300 m2 g−1) while significantly improving mechanical properties in the transverse direction. These printed cellulose aerogels demonstrate excellent cellular viability (>90% for NIH/3T3 fibroblasts) and exhibit robust antibacterial activity through in situ‐grown silver nanoparticles.