Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
Journal of Polymer Research, cilt.33, sa.4, 2026 (SCI-Expanded, Scopus)
The advancement of tissue engineering critically depends on scaffolds that replicate native tissue architecture and exhibit favorable biological and mechanical properties. Additive manufacturing offers precise fabrication of complex scaffold geometries, enabling customization for enhanced cellular activities. Concurrently, integrating sustainable and renewable biomaterials into scaffold design is gaining attention for environmental benefits and unique natural polymer properties. This study investigates 3D printed cellulose reinforced polymer scaffolds, utilizing cellulose derived from date kernel seeds as a sustainable reinforcement. We systematically varied unit cell architectures (Kelvin, body-centered cubic (BCC), and face-centered cubic (FCC)) and cellulose contents (5%, 10%, and 15% by weight), producing nine distinct scaffold models. These were comprehensively evaluated for their physicochemical properties, mechanical behavior, and biological performance using L-929 mouse fibroblast cells. Physicochemical characterization revealed that increasing cellulose content from 5 to 15 wt% within each architecture led to a gradual and monotonic increase in both average pore size and total porosity. This established a functionally graded scaffold system at the structural level, with pore sizes ranging from approximately 130 μm to 190 μm and porosity from 66% to 82%, values favorable for tissue engineering. Uniaxial compression tests further demonstrated a systematic decrease in compressive modulus with increasing cellulose content and porosity across all architectures, consistent with classical porosity–stiffness relationships. Moduli ranged from approximately 38.5 MPa to 21.8 MPa, indicating effective mechanical tunability.Biological evaluation with L-929 fibroblast cells showed that both scaffold architecture and cellulose content directly impact cell adhesion, spreading, and settlement. FCC and BCC architectures, particularly FCC-15 and BCC-15 designs, exhibited the best performance in terms of cell adhesion and proliferation. BCC-15 supported high cell adhesion on both external and internal porous regions, while FCC-15 enabled extensive cell colonization. The Kelvin architecture, conversely, showed lower cell adhesion. These findings collectively demonstrate that the proposed scaffold system exhibits functional grading at both structural and mechanical levels, crucial for tailoring properties to specific tissue engineering applications. The good biocompatibility of cellulose, combined with its influence on pore structure and mechanical behavior, enabled FCC-15 and BCC-15 designs to create favorable microenvironments for fibroblast adhesion and proliferation. This research emphasizes the central role of unit cell architecture, composition, and mechanical tuning in scaffold design, highlighting cellulose reinforcement’s significant contribution to both biological and functional performance, positioning these architectures as promising candidates for advanced tissue engineering.