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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2015 Apr 1.
Published in final edited form as: Biomaterials. 2014 Feb 14;35(13):4026–4034. doi: 10.1016/j.biomaterials.2014.01.064

Figure 1. Optimization of binder solution acidity to maximize cytocompatibility and mechanical strength.

Figure 1

a) Using media extraction techniques with XTT assays after 24 hours of exposure to test material cytotoxicity according to ISO 10993, significant improvements in C3H/10T1/2 cell viability were observed when decreasing binder acidity from 12.5 wt% to 8.75 wt%. No significant improvements were observed when the acidity was further decreased to 5 wt% (n=6/group). * indicates p < 0.05 by ANOVA with Tukey’s correction for multiple comparisons. Adding a non-cytotoxic surfactant (0.25 wt% Tween 80) did not significantly change viability, however, it significantly increased the strength of the printed materials in 3 point bending (b) by enhancing binder solution printability into the powder. Therefore, 8.75 wt% phosphoric acid + 0.25 wt% Tween 80 was chosen as the baseline binder solution for subsequent experiments. # indicates p < 0.05 by 2-way ANOVA with Sidak’s correction for multiple comparisons. n=6–9/group. Bars represent means and error bars are standard deviation.