BRITE Pivot: Rapid 3D Additive and Subtractive Manufacturing of Functional Nano-Ferroelectric Biomaterials

Advanced manufacturing strategies for functional analytical biomaterials are needed immediately to help accelerate tissue model development and enable high-throughput screening platforms for biomedical and pharmaceutical technologies. For example, one of the primary factors that halts the advancement of new therapeutic drugs are their adverse reactions in organs such as the heart.

To help accelerate drug development and de-risk the progression towards clinical studies, better cardiac tissue models are required that not only mimic mature human heart tissue but also have integrated analytical tools that can rapidly assess the mechanical behavior of the tissue with high spatial resolution and sensitivity in response to early developmental drugs. Because of the material tunability, speed of fabrication, and biocompatibility, three-dimensional (3D) optical bioprinting has become an ideal additive manufacturing strategy to achieve realistic tissue models; however, very little advancement has been made on the printing of high-resolution biomechanical sensors directly into fabricated tissue constructs.

This Boosting Research Ideas for Transformative and Equitable Advances in Engineering (BRITE) project spearheads this advancement by supporting research that intends to develop additive manufacturing processes that can rapidly print, and/or erase, biomaterials capable of high density wireless mechanical sensing. Through a multi-faceted diversity, equity, and inclusion plan, this project will also boost underrepresented minority student retention and degree attainment in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields by building a STEM awareness program at community colleges and identifying opportunity/equity gaps in rigorous STEM curricula.

Technically, this project aims to conduct research focused on engineering photolabile ferroelectric bioinks that incorporate piezoelectric nanoparticles modified with electrochromic dyes within a hydrogel that can be used for additive and/or subtractive manufacturing in 3D stereolithography instruments. These bioinks will be used to 3D print nano-ferroelectric biomaterials with < 5 micro spatial resolution that have tunable mechanical properties, high piezoelectric coefficients, and can directly couple piezoelectric and optical signals.

Through surface engineering and modeling, a strong understanding of how to control and optimize the polarization-strain relationship in optically printed ferroelectric nanocomposites will be generated. In addition, fundamental questions will be answered on how local piezoelectric strains fields can be engineered to induce molecular Stark effects and how cleavable chemical bonds can be leveraged to rapidly deconstruct and erase polymer nanocomposites using light.

Lastly, this project will demonstrate that functional analytical biomaterials can be optically manufactured from the developed bioinks and 3D bioprinting instrumentation that are capable of high-density force read-outs and sensitivity via a piezoelectric-to-optical transduction mechanism.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.