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New 3D printing technique produces 'living' materials
Jessica Guttridge
Applications for the technology that produces responsive plastic or tissue matter goes across many industries
A model of a polymer
The researchers achieved the outcome by merging 3D and 4D printing and polymerisation; a chemical process that combines molecules to create polymers; chemical compounds consisting of molecules bound together in long repeating chains. Polymers can be synthetic, such as plastic, or biological like, DNA.
4D printing is a subset of 3D printing, where the printed object can transform its shape in response to certain conditions.
The team explained their research in a paper in Angewandte Chemie International Edition.
The research of the project was built upon the research of UNSW 2014 Sydney Boyer Lab’s discovery of a polymerisation method using visible light and a method that specialised in living polymers (RAFT) found by CSIRO in 1994.
In the newly devised method, the researchers used visible light to create an environmentally friendly “living” plastic or polymer. These polymers can be reactivated for further growth, unlike traditional polymers which are “dead” after being made.
Professor Cyrille Boyer, lead author said his team’s breakthrough was a world first in the development of a new 3D printing system using PET-RAFT polymerisation.
“Controlled polymerisation has never been used in 3D and 4D printing before, because the rates of typical controlled polymerisation processes are too slow for 3D/4D printing, where the reaction must be fast for practical printing speeds,” Professor Boyer said.
“After two years of research and hundreds of experiments, we developed a rapid process compatible with 3D printing.”
UNSW’s Nathaniel Corrigan, co-first author with UNSW PhD candidate Zhiheng Zhang, said a bonus advantage of their new system was the ability to finely control all molecules in the 3D-printed material.
“With 4D printing, the 3D-printed object can change its shape and chemical or physical properties and adapt to its environment.
“In our work, the 3D-printed material could reversibly change its shape when it was exposed to water and then dried. For example, the 3D object starts as a flat plane and when exposed to certain conditions, it will start to fold – that’s a 4D material. So, the fourth dimension is time.”
“We want to explore our system to find and address any limitations to allow for better uptake and implementation of this technology,” he said.
Prof Boyer said the new method had a multitude of applications for everyday items, particularly if a deformed or broken object needs to be repaired or modified.
“The main application is of course recycling, because instead of using a plastic object once, it can be repaired and reused,” he said.
“For ordinary recycling you take the materials away and have to reconstruct them, but for the new ‘living’ material it will be able to repair itself.
“For example, if you want to put the UNSW logo on a mug, you can modify the surface of the object and grow the polymers to show UNSW because the object is not dead; it’s a living object and can continue to grow and expand.”
The process is also compatible with biomedicine, in creating synthetic and organic materials that can augment or replace a natural function. Dr Corrigan says the extreme conditions in 3D printing previously made it inefficient.
“Current 3D printing approaches are typically limited by the harsh conditions required, such as strong UV light and toxic chemicals, which limits their use in making biomaterials,” he said.
“But with the application of PET-RAFT polymerisation to 3D printing, we can produce long polymer molecules using visible light rather than heat, which is the typical polymerisation method.
“Using heat above 40 degrees kills cells, but for visible light polymerisation we can use room temperature, so the viability of the cells is much higher.”
Prof Boyer said their new technique would allow commercial and non-expert operators to produce materials with seemingly endless properties and applications.
“We want to explore our system to find and address any limitations to allow for better uptake and implementation of this technology,” he said.
“There is so much we can do by combining 3D and 4D printing with controlled polymerisation to make advanced and functional materials for many applications to benefit society.”
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The short-term nature of Government (3 to 4-year terms), the short-term horizon of the business system (driven by shareholder value), the media culture (infotainment and ‘gotcha’ games), the general Australian population’s cynical perspective and a preoccupation with a lifestyle all create a malaise of strategic thinking and conversation. Ultimately, it leads to a leadership vacuum at all levels. 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