Researchers are using the polymer in plant cell walls to make renewable, soft feedstock for 3D printing. A team from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory has developed a new technique for 3D printing feedstock that could enable a profitable use of lignin, the material left over from processing biomass. It has…
R&D Special Focus: 3D Printing
How AI and 3D Printing are Revolutionizing Materials Design
3D Printed Biosensors Offer Wearable Glucose Monitoring for Diabetes Patients
New biosensors could help diabetes patients forgo the constant finger pricking or expensive continuous monitoring systems to monitor their glucose levels. Researchers from Washington State University have created a 3D-printed glucose biosensor that could be used in wearable monitors, leading to customizable glucose monitors for individual diabetes patient’s biology. “3D printing can enable manufacturing of…
Researchers Investigate Unsafe Emissions From 3D Printers
New Tech Tracks the “Fingerprints” of 3D Printed Guns
Researchers Take Steps Toward 3D Printing Artificial Blood Vessels and Arteries
3D Printed Graphene Aerogel Enhances Supercapacitor Ability
3D Printers Have ‘Fingerprints,’ a Discovery That Could Help Trace 3D-Printed Guns
Company Hopes to 3D Print Rocket Engine
The new age space race could soon include 3D printed rocket engines. Launcher, a Brooklyn-based start-up, has successfully used a 3D printer to produce a copper alloy E-1 engine with the long-term goal of 3D printing a liquid rocket engine that can take satellites into space. Max Haot, the CEO of Launcher, said in an…
Understanding the Role of Carbon Fiber in 3D Printing
3D printing carbon fiber is perhaps the second most sought-after additive manufacturing technology, after metal. Thanks to recent developments in the additive manufacturing space, printers capable of utilizing the elusive material are finally a reality. However, not all carbon fiber 3D printers are created equal — some machines use microscopic chopped fibers to enhance conventional…
Lending a ‘Shell’ping Hand
These days, you can 3-D print toys, full-size skeletons, Halloween masks, art projects, mechanical parts and building blocks. You can also print tortoise shells — or, as the MakerLab at Northern Arizona University’s Cline Library did recently, implants for damaged tortoise shells to help a couple of local pets survive. Dr. Tereza DeMuth, a veterinarian…
Researchers Explore Machine Learning to Prevent Defects in Metal 3D-Printed Parts in Real Time
For years, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory engineers and scientists have used an array of sensors and imaging techniques to analyze the physics and processes behind metal 3-D printing in an ongoing effort to build higher quality metal parts the first time, every time. Now, researchers are exploring machine learning to process the data obtained during…
At Last, a Simple 3D Printer for Metal
Used to produce three-dimensional objects of almost any type, across a range of industries, including healthcare, aviation and engineering, 3D printed materials have come of age during the last decade. Research published in the journal Materials Today demonstrates a new approach to 3D printing to fuse metallic filaments made from metallic glass into metallic objects.…
Researchers 3D Print Colloidal Crystals
MIT engineers have united the principles of self-assembly and 3-D printing using a new technique, which they highlight today in the journal Advanced Materials. By their direct-write colloidal assembly process, the researchers can build centimeter-high crystals, each made from billions of individual colloids, defined as particles that are between 1 nanometer and 1 micrometer across.…
3D Printed Bionic Eye Prototype Could Help the Blind
New Method Enables 4D Printed Ceramics
ACS Meeting: Water Bottles, Other Recycled 3D Printing Materials Could Avoid Military Supply Snags
Soldiers on the battlefield or at remote bases often have to wait weeks for vital replacement parts. Now scientists report they have found a way to fabricate many of these parts within hours under combat conditions using water bottles, cardboard and other recyclable materials found on base as starting materials for 3D printing. They say…
Researchers Turn Tracking Codes into ‘Clouds’ to Authenticate Genuine 3D Printed Parts
3D Inks That Can Be Erased Selectively
3D printing by direct laser writing enables production of micro-meter-sized structures for many applications, from biomedicine to microelectronics to optical metamaterials. Researchers of Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) have now developed 3D inks that can be erased selectively. This allows specific degradation and reassembly of highly precise structures on the micrometer and nanometer scales. The…
Research Finds 3D Printers Offer Alternate Method to Create Microfluidic Probes
NYU Abu Dhabi Assistant Professor of Mechanical and Biomedical Engineering Mohammad Qasaimeh, and NYU Abu Dhabi Global PhD Fellow in Engineering and first author of the research Ayoola T. Brimmo, along with other researchers, used a 3D printer to create a functional, integrated, and inexpensive microfluidic probe (MFP) to study cancer cells and other living…
Develop 3D Printed Material for Space Station
New Method Will Yield Better 3D Printed Batteries
A team from the Carnegie Mellon University has developed a new way to produce 3D printed battery electrodes that create a 3D microlattice structure with controlled porosity. Due to the nature of the manufacturing process, the design of 3D printed electrodes is currently limited to just a few possible architectures. The internal geometry that currently…
Carbon Components Developed Using 3D Printer
Three ETH alumni have developed a 3D printer capable of manufacturing components from carbon fiber composites. Their ETH spin-off, 9T Labs, could bring a breakthrough for the manufacturing and utilization of extremely lightweight and strong parts. Stronger than steel, but up to five times lighter: carbon fiber-reinforced plastic (CFRP), often simply referred to as carbon,…
Settlement Allows Instructions for 3D Printed Guns to be Posted Online
Beginning August 1, gun manufacturers can legally post online instructions to 3D print firearms, thanks to a recent court settlement. Last month, Cody Wilson, a self-described “post-left anarchist,” reached a settlement agreement with the U.S. Department of the State concluding a multi-year federal lawsuit. Following the settlement Wilson will now be permitted beginning Aug. 1…