Bioinspired Hierarchical Porous Tricalcium Phosphate Scaffold Prepared via Freeze Casting Combined with Material Jetting Templating

Abstract Recapitulating the in vivo microenvironments of damaged tissues through modulation of the physicochemical properties of scaffolds can enhance cell proliferation and differentiation. However, it is often a technical challenge to fully mimic the hierarchical structure of the target tissues. Inspired by hierarchical natural bone, we developed, for the first time, tricalcium phosphate scaffolds with four-level hierarchical structures (FH-TCP) across macro- to nanoscales, via freeze casting combined with material jetting templating. The mechanical property of the FH-TCP scaffolds can be tailored to be close to the cancellous bone (0.5 ~ 3.5 MPa). In addition, the better cell viability of FH-TCP demonstrates great potential for practical applications.