3D PRINTING AND NANOMANUFACTURING - 3D Bioprinting and Nanotechnology in Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine - page 32

FIGURE 2.6
A schematic representation of SLA: (a) top-down approach, (b) bottom-up approach.
2.3.1 POWDER-TYPE MATERIALS
Selective laser sintering has been used with powdered materials—mostly synthetic polymers, poly-
mer composites, or ceramics—to fabricate 3D solid structures. These materials include PEEK, PVA,
PCL, PLLA, and HA ( Tan et al . , 2005; Duan et al . , 2010; Kanczler et al . , 2009 ). Polyetheretherketone
(PEEK) is a bio-inert polymer with a melting point of 343 °C and a glass temperature of 143 °C. These
properties make the polymer stable to be processed at high temperatures; therefore, PEEK is easily
sterilized in autoclave or by radiation without sacrificing its materials. Poly (vinyl alcohol) (PVA) is a
semicrystalline polymer and copolymer of vinyl alcohol and vinyl acetate. PVA has a melting point of