Developing egg white gel: Unlocking superior mechanical properties and 3D printing potential with silicate nanosheets.

With the growing demand for renewable natural materials across a range of applications, proteins derived from biological sources such as egg white (EW), a protein-rich compound, have gained increasing attention. This study aims to propose a nanocomposite ink formulation composed of EW and Laponite® (LAP) nanosheets and investigate the effect of LAP concentration (0, 0.5, 0.75, and 1 wt%) on the physical, mechanical, printability, and biological properties of the resulting three-dimensional (3D)-printed EW-LAP hydrogels. The formulated hybrid inks exhibit good printability due to the shear-thinning properties and the formation of intermolecular networks by LAP nanosheets. In addition, the β-sheet content of EW can be altered by varying the LAP content, resulting in tunable mechanical properties, swelling behavior, and degradation rates of the 3D-printed hydrogels. Notably, the incorporation of 0.75 wt.% LAP nanosheets into the EW matrix significantly enhances compressive strength and modulus of EW. The 3D-printed EW-LAP hydrogels also improve the metabolic activity of fibroblasts compared to the control (about two times), and facilitate cell spreading, making it a promising candidate for soft tissue engineering applications.