Advanced 3D-printed antibacterial nano 58S bioglass/AgNPs/CeO2-based scaffolds for bone tissue engineering

58S bioglass (BG) has been considered an effective bioceramic in bone tissue engineering due to its good osteoinductive and osteoconductive properties; however, its poor antibacterial and printing properties remain a challenge in the development of ideal patient-specific, fully interconnected, bone-like scaffolds. To address this issue, this study presents novel 3D-printed BG/AgNPs/CeO 2 (BG AC3D ) composite scaffolds. These scaffolds exhibit a fully interconnected pore network (≈99 %) with a porosity of ≈64 % and optimally designed pore and strut sizes of 404 ± 15 μm and 394 ± 30 μm, respectively, making them suitable for bone healing applications. Adding AgNPs and ceria nanoparticles significantly increased the shear-thinning properties of Pluronic F-127/BG/AgNPs/CeO 2 -based ink, as compared to Pluronic F-127/BG-based ink. As a result, BG AC3D scaffold showed improved dimensional accuracy during printing relative to pristine BG. Nanoindentation studies revealed substantial increase in the mechanical properties of BG AC3D scaffolds, with elastic modulus, hardness, and compressive strength showing enhancement of 76 % (57.9 ± 8 GPa), 24 % (3.1 ± 1 GPa), and 275 % (1.5 ± 0.4 MPa), respectively. The antibacterial properties of BG AC3D scaffolds were investigated using disc diffusion and bacterial adhesion assays, which demonstrated an exceptional bactericidal efficacy of 99.3 % against Escherichia coli ( E. coli ) and 99.4 % against Staphylococcus aureus ( S. aureus ) compared to pristine BG. The cytocompatibility of the scaffolds was assessed using resazurin assays with mouse BMSCs and MTT assays with mouse fibroblasts, revealing enhanced cell viability for the BG AC3D composition compared to BG. Additionally, both BG and BG AC3D composites showed similar apatite mineralization on their surfaces, as observed under a scanning electron microscope. These findings indicate that BG AC3D scaffolds possess the necessary mechanical, antibacterial, and cytocompatibility properties, making them a promising candidate for effective bone tissue repair and regeneration.