AccScience Publishing / IJB / Online First / DOI: 10.36922/IJB026130119
RESEARCH ARTICLE

Coaxial 3D printing of hollow tubular sodium alginate/polyacrylamide double-network hydrogel scaffolds

Wenle Yu1† Dingjian Liang2† Renzhi Wang1 Jingyao Gai1 Quanhui Liu3 Yuanfen Chen1* Ben Huang4*
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1 School of Mechanical Engineering, Guangxi University, Nanning, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China
2 Department of Radiation Oncology, Minzu Hospital of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Affiliated Minzu Hospital of Guangxi Medical University, Nanning, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China
3 College of Animal Science and Technology, Guangxi University, Nanning, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China
4 Guangxi Key Laboratory of Eye Health, Department of Technical Support, The People’s Hospital of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Guangxi Academy of Medical Sciences, Nanning, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China
†These authors contributed equally to this work.
Received: 27 March 2026 | Revised: 20 April 2026 | Accepted: 24 April 2026 | Published online: 4 May 2026
© 2026 by the Author(s). This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License ( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ )
Abstract

Tubular hydrogel scaffolds facilitate nutrient and oxygen transport, making them particularly suitable for culturing cells with high metabolic demands. In this study, a double-network hydrogel scaffold with a tubular structure was fabricated using coaxial extrusion-based 3D printing. The hydrogel was composed of sodium alginate and polyacrylamide, and its biocompatibility was assessed through cell culture experiments. The results show that the crosslinking sequence, material composition, and printing parameters were the main factors affecting the macrostructure, microstructure, and mechanical properties of the hydrogel. The CA-PAm hydrogel, in which alginate was ionically crosslinked before subsequent acrylamide (AAm) polymerization under UV exposure, exhibited a more compact microstructure and superior mechanical performance. By optimizing the material composition, the CA-PAm hydrogel achieved a tensile strength of 809.80 kPa and an elongation at break of 217.07%. In addition, the inner-to-outer flow-rate ratio and the platform moving speed are critical factors determining the tubular structural parameters and 3D structural stability. The hydrogel leachate assay showed 89.8% cell viability, and perfusion culture within the tubular scaffold showed an MEF survival rate of 85.4% after three days, indicating good biocompatibility of the scaffold. These results show that crosslinking-sequence reconfiguration is a practical strategy for matching hydrogel network formation with the requirements of coaxial tubular printing and provides a feasible route for fabricating mechanically robust and cytocompatible hollow hydrogel scaffolds for tissue engineering.

Graphical abstract
Keywords
Coaxial 3D printing
Hollow tubular scaffold
Sodium alginate/polyacrylamide
Double-network hydrogel
Sequential crosslinking
Funding
The authors thank the support of Guangxi Young Elite Scientists Sponsorship Program (GXYESS2025029), Natural Science Foundation of Guangxi Province (2025GXNSFAA069620), and National Natural Science Foundation of China (52005115).
Conflict of interest
The authors declare they have no competing interests.
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International Journal of Bioprinting, Electronic ISSN: 2424-8002 Print ISSN: 2424-7723, Published by AccScience Publishing