3D Printed Organs and Batteries in the Not-too Distant Future

Kyle Maxey | November  2013
Engineering.com

Surveys conducted by the German Organ Transplantation Foundation (DSO) say the number of organ transplant donors has plummeted 18 percent in the past year. With the demand for organ transplants increasingly overtaking supply, physicians are hopeful that new technologies (such as 3D printing) could one day fill in these gaps.

As a first big step, researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Interfacial Engineering and Biotechnology (IGB) in Stuttgart recently announced that they’ve created a bio-ink suitable for printing a number of tissue types.

The key to the new ink’s versatility is its gelatin base. Gelatin, a derivative of collagen, is one of the main constituents of human tissues. While gelatin is normally in a gelatinous state at room temperature, the IGB researchers have created a way to keep the material in a liquid form. This makes it easier for the 3D printer to manipulate the material, depositing it onto a sterile sheet where it can then be cured with a UV light and rendered solid.

According to the IGB, “researchers can control the chemical modification of the biological molecules so that the resulting gels have differing strengths and swelling characteristics. The properties of natural tissue can therefore be imitated – from solid cartilage to soft adipose tissue.”

While 3D printed organs are still a long way off, IGB’s material is an important step forward in this burgeoning medical field. “Only once we are successful in producing tissue that can be nourished through a system of blood vessels can printing larger tissue structures become feasible,” says IGB researcher Dr. Kirsten Borcher.

In the coming decades, the population of elderly people will dramatically rise around the world, increasing the demand for advanced biotechnology. If 3D printing technology can mature in time to meet these growing demands, it will find a huge market and be able to contribute to a higher quality of life.

New inks and tools allow 3-D printing of lithium-ion technology.

By Mike Orcutt | November 2013
MIT Technology Review

By making the basic building blocks of batteries out of ink, Harvard materials scientist Jennifer Lewis is laying the groundwork for lithium-ion batteries and other high-performing electronics that can be produced with 3-D printers.

Although the technology is still at an early stage, the ability to print batteries and other electronics could make it possible to manufacture new kinds of devices. Think of self-powered biomedical sensors, affixed to the skin, that would continuously transmit vital signs to a smartphone. Or existing products could be made more simply and efficiently.

For example, the plastic shell of a hearing aid is already 3-D printed for a custom fit inside a wearer’s ear. But the electronics are manufactured separately, and the batteries are often the type that must be replaced frequently. If the electronics and a rechargeable battery were printed together, the final product could be made more rapidly and seamlessly.

Lewis has taken two important steps toward printing electronic devices. First, she has invented an arsenal of what she calls functional inks that can solidify into batteries and simple components, including electrodes, wires, and antennas. Second, she has developed nozzles and high-pressure extruders that squeeze out the batteries and other components from an industrial-grade 3-D printer. Lewis’s inks use suspended nanoparticles of the desired materials, such as compounds of lithium for batteries and silver for wires. These materials are mixed into a variety of solutions, and the resulting inks are nearly solid when unperturbed but flow when a certain amount of pressure is applied. Once printed, the materials return to solid form. Printing a battery from a single nozzle can take minutes, but Lewis’s custom 3-D printing technology can deposit inks from hundreds of nozzles at the same time.

The printing technology works at room temperature, not the high temperatures normally required to work with high-performing electronics. That makes it possible to print the materials on plastic without causing damage. The battery materials themselves aren’t revolutionary, she says; “this is really more a revolution in the way things are manufactured.”

Her printed lithium-ion batteries are as tiny as one millimeter square but perform as well as commercial batteries, because Lewis can render microscale architectures, and position structures with 100-nanometer accuracy, to mirror the structures of much bigger batteries.

Lewis’s group holds eight patents for its inks and is working on licensing and commercializing the technology in the next few years. Although she says the initial plan is to provide tools for manufacturers, she may eventually produce a low-end printer for hobbyists.

Notre Dame researchers develop paint-on solar cells

by Prashant Kamat
21-Dec-2011
University of Notre Dame 

Imagine if the next coat of paint you put on the outside of your home generates electricity from light—electricity that can be used to power the appliances and equipment on the inside.

A team of researchers at the University of Notre Dame have made a major advance toward this vision by creating an inexpensive "solar paint" that uses semiconducting nanoparticles to produce energy.

"We want to do something transformative, to move beyond current silicon-based solar technology," says Prashant Kamat, John A. Zahm Professor of Science in Chemistry and Biochemistry and an investigator in Notre Dame's Center for Nano Science and Technology (NDnano), who leads the research.

"By incorporating power-producing nanoparticles, called quantum dots, into a spreadable compound, we've made a one-coat solar paint that can be applied to any conductive surface without special equipment."

The team's search for the new material, described in the journal ACS Nano, centered on nano-sized particles of titanium dioxide, which were coated with either cadmium sulfide or cadmium selenide. The particles were then suspended in a water-alcohol mixture to create a paste.

When the paste was brushed onto a transparent conducting material and exposed to light, it created electricity.

"The best light-to-energy conversion efficiency we've reached so far is 1 percent, which is well behind the usual 10 to 15 percent efficiency of commercial silicon solar cells," explains Kamat.

"But this paint can be made cheaply and in large quantities. If we can improve the efficiency somewhat, we may be able to make a real difference in meeting energy needs in the future."

"That's why we've christened the new paint, Sun-Believable," he adds.

Kamat and his team also plan to study ways to improve the stability of the new material.

NDnano is one of the leading nanotechnology centers in the world. Its mission is to study and manipulate the properties of materials and devices, as well as their interfaces with living systems, at the nano-scale.

Are Your Clothes Making You Sick?

Anthony Gucciardi

Natural Society - December 29, 2011

With every form of industry slashing costs and utilizing potentially dangerous new manufacturing technologies in an attempt to monetize and reduce workload, many of these companies are putting your health at risk. Such is the case with the clothing industry according to new research, which asks the question as to whether or not your clothes may be making you sick.

Some corporations have begun embedding something known as antimicrobial compounds into a number of common products including toothpaste, hand soaps, and even items within the clothing industry. The antimicrobial compounds are added to kill germs and odors, which appears to be beneficial at first glance. The truth of the matter, however, is that scientists have found that these antimicrobial chemicals may actually be damaging your thyroid in addition to your hormonal system.

Triclosan, Nanoparticles Added to Clothing Pose Health Risk

Furthermore, these antimicrobial compounds do not really pack a powerful anti-odor or anti-germ punch. In fact, the antimicrobials added into premium brand name clothing items are actually the same as washing with soap and water. These products are sometimes loaded with harsh antibacterial agents such as triclosan, and trichlorocarban.

These two chemicals were found to begin washing out of the clothing quickly, and within around 10 washes half of the triclosan and triclocarban washed out. What this means is that the chemicals could easily be absorbed into your skin as a result of sweating or even from water touching the antimicrobial clothing. Washed out chemicals can also negatively impact the environment after passing through water treatment plants, posing a risk to wildlife, humans, and the food supply. The Swedish Chemical Agency, where researchers conducted the tests, also warned that children could absorb the microbial compounds which could negatively impact their developing bodies.

Silver can also be used in nanoparticle form, which are tiny particles that can cross the blood-brain barrier. Prominent health professionals have warned against products containing nanoparticles due to the fact that the technology has never been thoroughly tested for effects on human health.

How to Avoid These Products

Luckily, there are key indicators to look for that will help you avoid clothing loaded with antimicrobial compounds. Avoid homeware products and clothing marketed as anti-odor, antimicrobial, or antibacterial, and avoid personal care products that list triclosan or trichlorocarban on the ingredients label.

For optimum results, purchase 100% organic personal care products and clothing if possible. You can vote with your dollar, and you can deliver a message to companies adding health-threatening chemicals to their products by simply not buying them.