3D Printing

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.…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

Terahertz radiation can be used for a wide variety of applications and is used today for airport security checks just as much as it is for material analysis in the lab. The wavelength of this radiation is in the millimetre range, meaning that it is significantly larger than the wavelength of visible light. It also…

After researching magnetic levitation in the conditions of microgravity, scientists from the Akson Russian Science Communication Association have found a new way to 3D-bioprint tissues. The researchers believe that the new technology could be applied to create several biological constructs, including estimating the adverse effects of space radiation on astronauts in long-term space missions. The…

A special type of ink has enabled researchers to 3D print magnetic structures that can perform a number of movements with a wave of a magnet, including rolling and jumping. A team from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology has developed a method to create soft, 3D-printed structures from a new type of 3D-printable ink that is…

There is a strong need for medication that treats age-related degenerative muscle and tendon diseases. A critical bottleneck in the discovery and development of novel drugs for skeletal muscle is the lack of efficient and robust functional in vitro assays for compound screening. In an article appearing in SLAS Technology, researchers in Switzerland describe the…

Cellulose is one of the most abundant and broadly distributed organic compound and industrial by-product on Earth. Yet, despite decades of extensive research, the bottom-up use of cellulose to fabricate 3D objects is still plagued with problems that restrict its practical applications: derivatives with vast polluting effects, used in combination with plastics, lack of scalability…

The first human corneas have been 3D printed by scientists at Newcastle University, UK. It means the technique could be used in the future to ensure an unlimited supply of corneas. As the outermost layer of the human eye, the cornea has an important role in focusing vision. Yet there is a significant shortage of…

Similar to the advance from black and white to color printing, a Washington State University research team for the first time has used 3D printing technology in a one-step process to print structures made of two different materials. The advance could potentially help manufacturers reduce manufacturing steps and use one machine to make complex products…

Rutgers University-New Brunswick engineers have created a 3D-printed smart gel that walks underwater and grabs objects and moves them. The watery creation could lead to soft robots that mimic sea animals like the octopus, which can walk underwater and bump into things without damaging them. It may also lead to artificial heart, stomach and other…

Researchers from the University of Minnesota have developed a method to print electronics on a human hand for the first time using a customized 3D printer. The new technology could enable soldiers to print temporary sensors to detect chemical or biological agents or solar cells to charge essential electronics, as well as print medical treatments…

Nearly two-thirds of the U.S. denture-wearing population suffer frequent fungal infections that cause inflammation, redness and swelling in the mouth. To better treat these infections, called denture-related stomatitis, University at Buffalo researchers have turned to 3-D printers, using the machines to build dentures filled with microscopic capsules that periodically release Amphotericin B, an antifungal medication.…