Journal of BIOACTIVE AND COMPATIBLE POLYMERS Vol. 22—May 2007 265 0883-9115/07/03 265–280 $10.00/0 DOI: 10.1177/0883911507078268 © 2007 SAGE Publications *Author to whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: m.edirisinghe@ucl.ac.uk Novel Electrohydrodynamic Printing of Nanocomposite Biopolymer Scaffolds ASHISH GUPTA, AND ALEXANDER M. SEIFALIAN Biomaterials and Tissue Engineering Centre, Academic Division of Surgery and Interventional Sciences, University College London, Hampstead Campus, London NW3 2PF, UK ZEESHAN AHMAD AND MOHAN J. EDIRISINGHE* Department of Mechanical Engineering, University College London, Torrington Place, London WC1E 7JE, UK MARC C. WINSLET Royal Free Hampstead NHS Trust Hospital, Pond Street, London NW3 2QG, UK ABSTRACT: In this paper, we uncover a new method for the preparation of biopolymer scaffolds and demonstrate its potential for the development of organs with the aid of tissue engineering. Two novel nanocomposite polymers, a nonbiodegradable polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane-poly (carbonate-urea)urethane and a biodegradable polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane-polycaprolactone-poly(carbonate-urea)urethane, have been subjected to flow in an electric field. Electrically forced microthreading of the polymers occurs and a three-dimensional print-patterning device was used to deposit fine (50 μm) threads of polymer according to a predesigned archi- tecture to prepare scaffolds. The technique can offer tremendous potential in the development of organs. KEY WORDS: polymer, scaffold, electrohydrodynamic, printing, tissue engineering. at PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIV on May 17, 2016 jbc.sagepub.com Downloaded from