University Hospital Würzburg
The Department for Functional Materials in Medicine and Dentistry (FMZ) at the University Hospital Würzburg (Universitätsklinikum Würzburg, UKW) is a research-focused department situated within a clinical environment. Research activities comprise surface modification of functional materials for biointerface engineering; tailored bioactive polymer synthesis; biological evaluation of materials; design and preparation of artificial extracellular matrices and hierarchical biomaterials systems; biofabrication of tissue models; and the preparation of polymer-based micro- and nanohydrogels as carriers for drugs and theranostics. These interdisciplinary activities are performed by a team of chemists, biologists, engineers, and materials scientists, and structured in research platforms: (1) applied materials development, (2) biofabrication methods, (3) advancing tissue models. The FMZ has one of the world’s most advanced facilities for the young 3D printing technology MEW, resulting in high-resolution structures from a spectrum of sizes. It also has extended experience in combining MEW with other technologies to generate fibre-reinforced composite materials. Further, FMZ has experience with a broad range of combinations of materials, for example combining inorganic materials with polymers, or thermoplastic materials, cell-laden hydrogels, and processing technologies.
Work in m2M
Synthesizing magnesium phosphate particles characterized by an optimal size distribution and composition, intended for use as osteogenic filler. Synthesis of MgP and Sr-MgP particles will be performed by a classical solid-state reaction. Polymer blends will be produced using MgP particles (range: 10–30 wt.%) and PCL, whereas higher loadings will be achieved by using a multimodal size distribution obtained by mixing different size fractions. FT-IR, XRD and GPC measurements will be performed on the mixtures to exclude changes of the materials composition, e.g., degradation of the polymer.
Development of a MEW printing head to enable gradient-printing of the polymer blend. The particle loaded polymers will be tested regarding their MEW printability and compared to pure PCL. Key processing parameters for MEW include mass flow rate, collector speed, electric field, and melt temperature. Scaffold morphology will be assessed by SEM and mechanical performance will be tested under tensile and compressive loading. Finally, the ion release properties (Mg, Sr, P) of printed scaffolds will be determined by ICPMS analysis and bioactivity is measured by incubation in simulated body fluid (SBF) for up to 14 days.
Researchers involved
Host Institutions/Labs
Past Publications
- Bartolf-Kopp et al. Hybrid cospinning and melt electrowriting approach enables fabrication of heterotypic tubular scaffolds resembling the non‐linear mechanical properties of human blood vessels. Advanced Functional Materials. DOI10.1002/adfm.202311797.
- Schroeter et al. Ready-to-use and rapidly biodegradable magnesium phosphate bone cement: In vivo evaluation in sheep. Advanced Healthcare Materials. 12(26).
- Nadernezhad et al. Melt electrowriting of isomalt for high-resolution templating of embedded microchannels. Adv Mater Technol-Us. 6(8).
- Pien et al. Melt electrowriting of a photo-crosslinkable poly(-caprolactone)-based material into tubular constructs with predefined architecture and tunable mechanical properties. Macromolecular Materials and Engineering. 307(7).
- Kaiser et al. Accelerated bone regeneration through rational design of magnesium phosphate cements. Acta biomaterialia. 145:358-371.
Past financed projects
- BRAV3
- EFRE-Multimat3DDruck
- Magnesium phosphate bone regeneration
