Thermal-structural behavior, physicochemical characterization and 3D printing of aragonite (CaCO3) derived from cuttlebone waste

Abstract Cuttlebone waste represents a promising and sustainable source of aragonite (CaCO). In this work, for the first time the effect of temperature, as a sterilization method, on the crystalline structure of cuttlefish aragonite was investigated to assess its suitability for experiments. Physicochemical characterizations were carried out using FT-IR, SEM, XRD, and TGA/DSC. The aragonite obtained from the ventral side was subsequently used for the fabrication of scaffolds via 3D printing. A detailed thermal analysis using thermo-diffractometry (XRD-T°) study, in the range of 200°C-600°C, was performed to analyze the thermal behavior of aragonite at different temperatures. Obtained results indicate that cuttlefish aragonite retains its crystalline structure up to 410°C, while a complete phase transformation to calcite occurs at 420°C, with a DTGₘₐₓ of 840°C. Thermal treatment also confirmed the presence of approximately 10% organic matter compared to commercial aragonite. The use of 3D printing demonstrated that aragonite from cuttlebone can be easily shaped into various 3D scaffolds with tailored porosities. Finally, it was shown that valorizing only the ventral side, which constitutes the bone endoskeleton (59% aragonite), from cuttlefish processing units in certain coastal regions could yield around 420 tons of aragonite.