Role of liquid crystal behavior in achieving bioinspired orthotropic organization in NCC/PEGDA/Collagen suspensions.

By combining an innovative process involving frontal ultrafiltration (UF) and ultrasound (US), the researchers were able to orient the NCC along three different directions, mimicking the organization of collagen fibers in articular cartilage.

This work, published in Carbohydrate Polymer Technologies and Applications, highlights that the liquid-crystal-like behavior of NCC is a necessary condition for such structuring: when suspensions display this behavior, orthotropic organization can be achieved and controlled.

The addition of PEGDA does not disrupt this organization and enables subsequent photopolymerization, while the incorporation of collagen under acidic pH further aligns the material composition with that of the cartilage extracellular matrix.

In situ dichroism experiments conducted during the UF/US process confirmed the presence of this orthotropic organization. This work paves the way for the design of bioinspired hydrogels for tissue engineering, particularly for cartilage regeneration.