3D Photopolymerization for Biofabrication

The chemical process of photo-induced polymerization has found widespread applications in the field of 3D printing. A special field of applications is biofabrication where photopolymerization is used for 3D bioprinting, e.g., for tissue engineering. In academic as well as in industrial research and development, 3D photopolymerization-based technologies like stereolithography (SL), digital light processing (DLP), and multiphoton polymerization (MPP) are widely applied to fabricate components and devices with special mechanical, optical, chemical, or biological properties. For biofabrication, additional properties like cytotoxicity of monomers and photoinitiators as well as UV radiation being harmful for cells have to be taken into account. New materials and technologies for biofabrication purposes have to be elaborated.