Articles
  • Direct ink writing of magnesium orthosilicate bioceramic 3D scaffolds

  • Zong Qi Wonga, Wei Hong Yeoa,*, Jing Yuen Teya, Chen Hunt Tinga, Chui Kim Ngc, Ming Chian Yewd, Chee Hong Lawa, Jia Huey Simb, J. Purbolaksonoe and S. Rameshe

  • aDepartment of Mechanical and Materials Engineering, Lee Kong Chian Faculty of Engineering and Science, Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman, 43000 Kajang, Selangor, Malaysia
    bDepartment of Chemical Engineering, Lee Kong Chian Faculty of Engineering and Science, Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman, Kajang 43000, Selangor, Malaysia
    cCentre for Advanced Materials, Department of Manufacturing Technology, Faculty of Engineering & Technology, Tunku Abdul Rahman University of Management and Technology, 53300, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
    dDepartment of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Petronas, 32610 Seri Iskandar, Perak, Malaysia
    eDepartment of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Universiti Malaya, Kuala Lumpur 50603, Malaysia

  • This article is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Abstract

Magnesium orthosilicate (Mg₂SiO₄), whose chemical name known as forsterite is a promising Mg-based bioceramic for orthopedic applications due to its bioactivity and superior mechanical properties. In this study, the magnesium orthosilicate powder was synthesized via a solid-state reaction using MgO and SiO₂. Subsequently, the printable ink was prepared using 40 vol% magnesium orthosilicate powder along with ammonium polyacrylate (BYK-154) as dispersant, hydroxypropyl methylcellulose (HPMC) as binder, and polyethylenimine (PEI) as flocculant. The ink mixture exhibited shear-thinning behaviour, suitable rheological behavior for extrusion and good printability. After printing, the printed 3D scaffold was then sintered at 1500 °C to obtain a magnesium orthosilicate structure with total porosity of 47.40%. Mechanical testing demonstrated a compressive strength of 14.61 MPa and a Young's modulus of 904.37 MPa, which fall within the range of mechanical properties of cancellous bone. These findings highlight the potential of direct ink writing (DIW) of magnesium orthosilicate as an orthopedic biomaterial.


Keywords: Direct ink writing, 3D printing, Magnesium orthosilicate, Forsterite, Bioceramics.

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by Fundamental Research Grant Scheme (FRGS) Grant No. FRGS/1/2022/TK10/UTAR/02/16 from Ministry of Higher Education, Malaysia.

This Article

  • 2025; 26(6): 1067-1073

    Published on Dec 31, 2025

  • 10.36410/jcpr.2025.26.6.1067
  • Received on Jul 23, 2025
  • Revised on Oct 24, 2025
  • Accepted on Oct 28, 2025

Correspondence to

  • Wei Hong Yeo

  • Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering, Lee Kong Chian Faculty of Engineering and Science, Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman, 43000 Kajang, Selangor, Malaysia
    Tel : +603 9086 0288

  • E-mail: yeowh@utar.edu.my