Beginners Guide to Bioprinting: Pluronic as a biomaterial
Here is the first blog to our series of beginners guide to bioprinting. The purpose of this guide is to provide basic knowledge in a topic of interest in the field of bioprinting. This blog will feature the use of Pluronic as a biomaterial for bioprinting. When using r3bEL to print cellular scaffolds, Pluronic F-127 has been our favored biomaterial. Pluronic, also known as Poloxamer 407, is a hydrophilic non-ionic surfactant,[1] It is also a thermo-reversible hydrogel, meaning that it can change from liquid to solid state depending on the temperature, and in this case, it is a liquid at cold temperatures and a solid at room temperature. Pluronic is widely used in multiple fields due to its surfactant properties which allow for a lower surface tension between lipids and liquids. In the cosmetics industry, it is used in dissolving oily ingredients in water. Pluronic acts as a cleaning agent to safely remove lipids from the lens films in contacts solution. Pluronic is al
