Synthesis, microstructure, and mechanical behaviour of a unique porous PHBV scaffold manufactured using selective laser sintering

Selective Laser Sintering (SLS) is a promising technique for manufacturing bio-polymer scaffolds used in bone tissue engineering applications. Conventional scaffolds made using SLS have complex engineered architectures to introduce adequate porosity and pore interconnectivity. This study presents an alternative approach to manufacture scaffolds via SLS without using pre-designed architectures. In this work, a SLS process was developed for fabricating interconnected porous biodegradable poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyvalerate) (PHBV) scaffolds with large surface areas and relative porosities of up to 80%. These characteristics provide great potential to enhance cell attachment inside the scaffolds. The scaffold microstructure was dependent on the laser energy density (LED) during the SLS process. An increase in LED led to scaffolds with higher relative densities, stronger inter-layer connections, and a reduced quantity of residual powder trapped inside the pores. An increase in relative density from 20.3% to 41.1% resulted in a higher maximum compressive modulus and strength of 36.4 MPa and 6.7 MPa, respectively.