Study of the bio-nanofluid heat transfer rate and thermo-physical properties of fused deposition modeling of bone scaffold dip-coated by polyvinyl alcohol/nano-diopside.

Since the introduction of 3D printing to biomedical fields, numerous advancements have been achieved in tissue engineering due to the advantages it offers. However, 3D-printed polymeric scaffolds may lack certain properties, impacting their functionality and success, such as bioactivity and cell affinity. In this study, the dip coating method was employed to enhance the biological and mechanical properties of 3D-printed polylactic acid (PLA) scaffolds using fused deposition modeling (FDM) technology. Specifically, the scaffolds were dip-coated with a polyvinyl alcohol (PVA)/nano-diopside solution. The thermal features of the 3D-printed scaffolds were analyzed using the differential scanning calorimetry method, revealing a calculated crystallinity of about 13%. To assess bioactivity, both coated and non-coated scaffolds were immersed in simulated body fluid (SBF) for 28 days, and their evaluation was conducted through scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDAX). At 40 °C, compared to the thermal conductivity of the nanofluid, the thermal conductivities of the non-coated 3D-printed sample and the coated 3D-printed sample were reduced by 9.91 and 22.52%, respectively. The results of this study guided the design and fabrication of improved tissue engineering scaffolds for bone regeneration applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]