| Aug 09, 2024 |
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(Nanowerk Information) Microalgae such because the diatom Odontella aurita and the inexperienced alga Tetraselmis striata are particularly appropriate as “biofactories” for the manufacturing of sustainable supplies for 3D laser printing attributable to their excessive content material in lipids and photoactive pigments. A global analysis crew led by Prof. Dr Eva Blasco, a scientist on the Institute for Molecular Programs Engineering and Superior Supplies (IMSEAM) of Heidelberg College, has succeeded for the primary time in manufacturing inks for printing advanced biocompatible 3D microstructures from the uncooked supplies extracted from the microalgae. The microalgae-based supplies may very well be utilized in future as the idea for implants or scaffolds for 3D cell cultures.
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The analysis has been printed in Superior Supplies (“Printing Inexperienced: Microalgae-Primarily based Supplies for 3D Printing with Mild”).
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| A brand new ink system, primarily based on the microalgae Odontella aurita and Tetraselmis striata, permits the manufacturing of advanced 3D microstructures with prime quality and precision. (Picture: Clara Vazquez-Martel)
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Among the many additive manufacturing strategies, two-photon 3D laser printing presents specific benefits for manufacturing on the micro- and nanoscale. Owing to its outstanding decision, it finds software in quite a few fields together with optics and photonics, microfluidics, and biomedicine. The method includes focusing a laser beam on a liquid, photoreactive resin, a so-called “ink”. At the focus, the laser mild prompts particular molecules generally known as photoinitiators and triggers a chemical response, inflicting native solidification of the ink.
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To this point, petrochemical-based polymers have been primarily used as inks for this extremely exact 3D laser printing course of. Nonetheless, these polymers contribute to the depletion of fossil fuels and the emission of greenhouse gases and also can include poisonous elements, as Prof. Blasco factors out. Microalgae are significantly nicely suited as “biofactories” for the manufacturing of sustainable supplies for 3D printing attributable to their fast progress charge, CO2-fixation throughout cultivation, and biocompatibility.
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“Regardless of their benefits, microalgae have hardly been thought of as uncooked supplies for light-based 3D printing,” says Prof. Blasco, whose group conducts analysis on the interface of macromolecular chemistry, supplies science, and 3D nanofabrication.
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The analysis crew succeeded for the primary time in extracting biocompatible supplies for high-resolution 3D laser printing from microalgae. For his or her experiments, the researchers chosen two species – the diatom Odontella aurita and the inexperienced alga Tetraselmis striata – that include significantly excessive ranges of lipids within the type of triglycerides. The crew extracted the triglycerides and functionalized them with acrylates to facilitate fast curing underneath mild irradiation. The photoactive inexperienced pigments current within the microalgae proved to be appropriate as photoinitiators. When uncovered to mild, they set off the chemical response that solidifies the ink right into a three-dimensional construction.
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“On this method we keep away from utilizing doubtlessly poisonous components just like the photoinitiators utilized in typical inks,” explains first creator Clara Vazquez-Martel, a doctoral candidate in Eva Blasco’s analysis crew at IMSEAM.
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Utilizing the brand new ink system, the researchers had been capable of produce totally different 3D microstructures with excessive precision, exhibiting advanced options similar to overhanging roofs and cavities. Utilizing cell tradition experiments, the researchers additionally investigated the biocompatibility of the microalgae-based inks. They ready 3D microscaffolds on which the cells had been cultured for about 24 hours. They noticed a survival charge of virtually 100%.
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“Our outcomes open up new potentialities not just for extra sustainable 3D printing with mild, but additionally for all times science functions – from 3D cell cultures to biocompatible implants,” says Prof. Blasco.
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