New 3D Printing Method Is Simple, Sustainable, & Reversible

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Engineers on the UC San Diego have developed a 3D printing technique that’s extremely easy and sustainable, utilizing only a liquid polymer ink and a calcium chloride salt answer to print stable constructions. And what’s much more unimaginable than the simplicity of the brand new 3D printing technique is that it’s totally reversible, which may show to assist making the manufacturing of supplies extra sustainable and eco-friendly sooner or later.

UC San Diego Right this moment studies that Jinhye Bae, the examine’s senior writer, famous that “That is all performed below ambient circumstances, without having for extra steps, specialised tools, poisonous chemical compounds, warmth or stress.” That contrasts vastly with the customary strategies for solidifying polymers, which often require each energy-intensive procedures and harsh chemical compounds, so this new 3D printing technique may show to be a really sustainable one.

“To exhibit the flexibility of their technique, the researchers printed constructions out of PNIPAM inks containing different supplies. For instance, they printed {an electrical} circuit utilizing an ink made from PNIPAM combined with carbon nanotubes, which efficiently powered a lightweight bulb. This printed circuit is also dissolved in contemporary water, showcasing the potential for creating water-soluble and recyclable digital parts.” – UC San Diego Right this moment

The staff which developed this new 3D printing technique revealed the outcomes of their work this previous Might within the journal Nature below the title “Sustainable 3D printing by reversible salting-out results with aqueous salt options.” In that paper, the authors state that the brand new technique confirmed nice promise for being employed throughout a wide range of completely different functions, and confirmed potential “for implementing sustainable 3D printing.”

“Such an unprecedented printing method utilizing the PNIPAM-based system demonstrated sturdy potential for a variety of functions, as an example, within the growth of a water-soluble disposable recyclable electrical circuit, a sensible service for materials delivering, and a multi-stage comfortable actuator able to responding to environmental adjustments in salt concentrations on demand with out requiring chemical modifications or compatibility constraints.”

Three of the authors, Jinhye Bae, Joseph Liu, and Donghwan Ji, filed a patent for the brand new course of by the UCSD Workplace of Innovation and Commercialization, so we may presumably see this sustainable 3D printing technique being put to work within the close to future.

Featured picture courtesy of Ji, D., Liu, J., Zhao, J. et al. Sustainable 3D printing by reversible salting-out results with aqueous salt options. Nat Commun 15, 3925 (2024).