3D Printing of Supramolecular Polymer Hydrogels with Hierarchical Structure
Abstract
Liquid crystalline hydrogels are an attractive class of soft materials to direct charge transport, mechanical actuation, and cell migration. When such systems contain supramolecular polymers, it is possible in principle to easily shear align nanoscale structures and create bulk anisotropic properties. However, reproducibly fabricating and patterning aligned supramolecular domains in 3D hydrogels remains a challenge using conventional fabrication techniques. Here, a method is reported for 3D printing of ionically crosslinked liquid crystalline hydrogels from aqueous supramolecular polymer inks. Using a combination of experimental techniques and molecular dynamics simulations, it is found that pH and salt concentration govern intermolecular interactions among the self‐assembled structures where lower charge densities on the supramolecular polymers and higher charge screening from the electrolyte result in higher viscosity inks. Enhanced hierarchical interactions among assemblies in high viscosity inks increase the printability and ultimately lead to greater nanoscale alignment in extruded macroscopic filaments when using small nozzle diameters and fast print speeds. The use of this approach is demonstrated to create materials with anisotropic ionic and electronic charge transport as well as scaffolds that trigger the macroscopic alignment of cells due to the synergy of supramolecular self‐assembly and additive manufacturing.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Pub Defense Publication
- Publication Date
- Jan 15, 2021
- Source ID
- 10.1002/smll.202005743
Entities
People
- Christopher V Synatschke
- Hiroaki Sai
- Ivan R Sasselli
- James O Hardin
- John D. Berrigan
- John F. Edelbrock
- Kohei Sato
- Michael F. Durstock
- Nicholas A Sather
- Peter A Mirau
- Ryan R. Kohlmeyer
- Ryan T. Zambrotta
- Samuel I. Stupp
- Wei Ji
Organizations
- Air Force Office of Scientific Research
- Air Force Research Laboratory
- Alexander von Humboldt Foundation
- Argonne National Laboratory
- Army Research Office
- National Science Foundation
- Northwestern University
- Office of Basic Energy Sciences
- Office of Science
- United States Army Medical Research and Development Command
- United States Department of Defense
- United States Department of Energy