Host: The Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers
Name : [in Japanese]
Date : September 09, 2018 - September 12, 2018
Three-dimensionally printed objects with photo-curable resin generally have high toxicity to cells, making it difficult to apply them to living systems. This paper reports a technique to construct a three-dimensional object in a glass chamber by aggregating microgels, which are polymers of N-isopropylacrylamide (NiPAm) and glycidyl methacrylate (GMA). We aggregated the microgels whose have a higher biocompatibility than the photo-curable resin by relatively diamagnetic assembly. Microgels were positively or negatively charged by modifying GMA with 2-aminoethanethiol (AET) or sodium 3-mercapto-1-propanesulfonate (MPSA). Two kinds of microgels having positive and negative charges were mixed and then their aggregate was formed at one place by a magnetic field. It was confirmed that the aggregate shrinks and expands at a shrinkage rate of about 10% by heating to 40°C and cooling to 25°C. The results show that the modeling method by aggregating electrically charged microgels based on relative diamagnetism is one of the most promising approaches for biocompatible three-dimensional printing and the formed objects could be further applied for a thermoresponsive actuator.
