Rapid fabrication and screening of tailored functional 3D biomaterials

Abstract Three dimensional synthetic polymer scaffolds have remarkable chemical and mechanical tunability in addition to biocompatibility. However, the chemical and physical space is vast in view of the number of variables that can be altered e.g. chemical composition, porosity, pore size and mechanical properties to name but a few. Here, we report the development of an array of 3D polymer scaffolds, whereby the physical and chemical properties of the polymer substrates were controlled, simultaneously examined (e.g. parallel micro-CT scanning of 24 samples) and biological properties screened. This approach allowed the screening of 48 different polymer scaffolds constructed in situ by means of freeze-casting and photo-polymerisation with the tunable composition and 3D architecture of the polymer scaffolds facilitating the smart design of 3D biomaterials. As a proof of concept, the array approach was used to identify 3D polymers that were capable of supporting cell growth and control their behaviour. Sitting alongside classical polymer microarray technology, this novel platform reduces the gap between the identification of a biomaterial in 2D and its subsequent 3D application.