3D Printing of Pyrolytic and Graphitic Carbon

3D printing of carbon materials has significantly impacted several research fields, including energy, electronics, transport, health, and space.

Particularly in tissue engineering applications, it promises the fabrication of patient-specific personalized scaffolds, offering a suitable combination of essential properties. However, several challenges remain in the marriage of 3D printing and carbon materials.

Two of the current challenges are little control in the properties of 3D printed pyrolytic carbon (3DPyC) and the complex fabrication process of 3D graphitized carbon (3DGC).

Therefore, even though preliminary studies show good cytocompatibility of 3DPyC and 3DGC, a proper investigation of the cell-carbon interaction, essential for tissue engineering applications, cannot be reliably performed.

The 3D-Carbon project aims to solve these two challenges by developing a pathway to reliably control the micro and macro-structural properties of 3DPyC and introducing a facile fabrication approach for 3DGC.

These will be achieved through synthesizing customizable functionalized green precursor materials suitable for stereolithographic 3D printing and controlled pyrolysis.

Cell culturing within 3D printed carbon scaffolds with controlled properties will further allow us to have a better understanding of the cell-carbon interaction, which could, therefore, lastingly impact innovation on carbon scaffolds for tissue engineering applications. Furthermore, such a study will lead us to the future development of carbon-based engineered living materials.