3D printed scaffold based on polycaprolactone/self-assembled fullerene (C₆₀) nanorod for bone tissue engineering

3D printed polycaprolactone (PCL)-based scaffolds have garnered attention in bone tissue engineering due to their biocompatibility, biodegradability, and precise geometry control. However, it is yet challenging to tune the mechanical properties and hydrophilicity. This paper reports a subtle balance between the mechanical properties and hydrophilicity of the scaffold essential in bone tissue engineering using self-assembled fullerene (C₆₀) nanorods (FNR) and Pluronic 123 surface-modified fullerene nanorods (PFNR) as the reinforced filler. FNR incorporated (0.013 wt%) PCL scaffold (PCL_FNR_0.013) shows enhanced compressive strength (8.4 MPa) and Young’s modulus (146.2 MPa), compared to the PCL scaffold (compressive strength: 3.3 MPa and Young’s modulus: 56.2 MPa) without significant changes in the hydrophilicity. However, the PCL scaffolds’ hydrophilicity and mechanical properties could be improved by incorporating PFNR filler. As a result, the scaffold shows excellent proliferation activity of Human Wharton’s Jelly Mesenchymal Stem Cells. Moreover, both the FNR and PFNR-incorporated PCL scaffolds show antibacterial properties essential to prevent implant-associated infections. The antibacterial activity results reveal that FNR without surface modification offers better antibacterial activity than PFNR, particularly against Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli. This study demonstrates that by adjusting the type and concentration of fillers, one can tune the mechanical and wetting properties of the PCL scaffold to optimize cell proliferation and antibacterial activity for potential applications in bone tissue engineering.