Tag Archives: 3D printer

Tiny, electrically conductive 3D-printed chair made from cellulose

Leave a reply

Sweden’s Chalmers University of Technology researchers have just announced that they’ve printed a very small 3D chair with electrical properties using cellulose nanomaterials. From a June 17, 2015 news item on Nanowerk,

A group of researchers at Chalmers University of Technology have managed to print and dry three-dimensional objects made entirely by cellulose for the first time with the help of a 3D-bioprinter. They also added carbon nanotubes to create electrically conductive material. The effect is that cellulose and other raw material based on wood will be able to compete with fossil-based plastics and metals in the on-going additive manufacturing revolution, which started with the introduction of the 3D-printer.

Here’s the 3D-printed chair,

The tiny chair made of cellulose is a demonstrational object, printed using the 3D bioprinter at Chalmers University of Technology. Photo: Peter Widing

The tiny chair made of cellulose is a demonstrational object, printed using the 3D bioprinter at Chalmers University of Technology. Photo: Peter Widing

A June 17, 2015 Chalmers University of Technology press release (also on EurekAlert*), which originated the news item, describes the problem with printing from cellulose nanomaterials and how it was solved,

The difficulty using cellulose in additive manufacturing is that cellulose does not melt when heated. Therefore, the 3D printers and processes designed for printing plastics and metals cannot be used for materials like cellulose. The Chalmers researchers solved this problem by mixing cellulose nanofibrils in a hydrogel consisting of 95-99 percent water. The gel could then in turn be dispensed with high fidelity into the researchers’ 3D bioprinter, which was earlier used to produce scaffolds for growing cells, where the end application is patient-specific implants.

The next challenge was to dry the printed gel-like objects without them losing their three-dimensional shape.

“The drying process is critical,” Paul Gatenholm explains. “We have developed a process in which we freeze the objects and remove the water by different means as to control the shape of the dry objects. It is also possible to let the structure collapse in one direction, creating thin films.”

Furthermore, the cellulose gel was mixed with carbon nanotubes to create electrically conductive ink after drying. Carbon nanotubes conduct electricity, and another project at Wallenberg Wood Science Center aims at developing carbon nanotubes using wood.

Using the two gels together, one conductive and one non-conductive, and controlling the drying process, the researchers produced three-dimensional circuits, where the resolution increased significantly upon drying.

The two gels together provide a basis for the possible development of a wide range of products made by cellulose with in-built electric currents.

“Potential applications range from sensors integrated with packaging, to textiles that convert body heat to electricity, and wound dressings that can communicate with healthcare workers,” says Paul Gatenholm. “Our research group now moves on with the next challenge, to use all wood biopolymers, besides cellulose.”

The research findings are presented this week at the conference New Materials From Trees that takes place in Stockholm, Sweden, June 15-17 [2015].

The research team members are Ida Henriksson, Cristina de la Pena, Karl Håkansson, Volodymyr Kuzmenko and Paul Gatenholm at Chalmers University of Technology.

This research reminds me of another effort, a computer chip fashioned of cellulose nanofibrils (CNF) from the University of Wisconsin-Madison (mentioned in my May 27, 2015 post).

* EurekAlert link added June 18, 2015.

Synthesizing nerve tissues with 3D printers and cellulose nanocrystals (CNC)

Leave a reply

There are lots of stories about bioprinting and tissue engineering here and I think it’s time (again) for one which one has some good, detailed descriptions and, bonus, it features cellulose nanocrystals (CNC) and graphene. From a May 13, 2015 news item on Azonano,

The printer looks like a toaster oven with the front and sides removed. Its metal frame is built up around a stainless steel circle lit by an ultraviolet light. Stainless steel hydraulics and thin black tubes line the back edge, which lead to an inner, topside box made of red plastic.

In front, the metal is etched with the red Bio Bot logo. All together, the gray metal frame is small enough to fit on top of an old-fashioned school desk, but nothing about this 3D printer is old school. In fact, the tissue-printing machine is more like a sci-fi future in the flesh—and it has very real medical applications.

Researchers at Michigan Technological University hope to use this newly acquired 3D bioprinter to make synthesized nerve tissue. The key is developing the right “bioink” or printable tissue. The nanotechnology-inspired material could help regenerate damaged nerves for patients with spinal cord injuries, says Tolou Shokuhfar, an assistant professor of mechanical engineering and biomedical engineering at Michigan Tech.

Shokuhfar directs the In-Situ Nanomedicine and Nanoelectronics Laboratory at Michigan Tech, and she is an adjunct assistant professor in the Bioengineering Department and the College of Dentistry at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

In the bioprinting research, Shokuhfar collaborates with Reza Shahbazian-Yassar, the Richard and Elizabeth Henes Associate Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering-Engineering Mechanics at Michigan Tech. Shahbazian-Yassar’s highly interdisciplinary background on cellulose nanocrystals as biomaterials, funded by the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) Biomaterials Program, helped inspire the lab’s new 3D printing research. “Cellulose nanocrystals with extremely good mechanical properties are highly desirable for bioprinting of scaffolds that can be used for live tissues,” says Shahbazian-Yassar. [emphases mine]

A May 11, 2015 Michigan Technological University (MTU) news release by Allison Mills, which originated the news item, explains the ‘why’ of the research,

“We wanted to target a big issue,” Shokuhfar says, explaining that nerve regeneration is a particularly difficult biomedical engineering conundrum. “We are born with all the nerve cells we’ll ever have, and damaged nerves don’t heal very well.”

Other facilities are trying to address this issue as well. Many feature large, room-sized machines that have built-in cell culture hoods, incubators and refrigeration. The precision of this equipment allows them to print full organs. But innovation is more nimble at smaller scales.

“We can pursue nerve regeneration research with a simpler printer set-up,” says Shayan Shafiee, a PhD student working with Shokuhfar. He gestures to the small gray box across the lab bench.

He opens the red box under the top side of the printer’s box. Inside the plastic casing, a large syringe holds a red jelly-like fluid. Shafiee replenishes the needle-tipped printer, pulls up his laptop and, with a hydraulic whoosh, he starts to print a tissue scaffold.

The news release expands on the theme,

At his lab bench in the nanotechnology lab at Michigan Tech, Shafiee holds up a petri dish. Inside is what looks like a red gummy candy, about the size of a half-dollar.

Here’s a video from MTU illustrating the printing process,

Back to the news release, which notes graphene could be instrumental in this research,

“This is based on fractal geometry,” Shafiee explains, pointing out the small crenulations and holes pockmarking the jelly. “These are similar to our vertebrae—the idea is to let a nerve pass through the holes.”

Making the tissue compatible with nerve cells begins long before the printer starts up. Shafiee says the first step is to synthesize a biocompatible polymer that is syrupy—but not too thick—that can be printed. That means Shafiee and Shokuhfar have to create their own materials to print with; there is no Amazon.com or even a specialty shop for bioprinting nerves.

Nerves don’t just need a biocompatible tissue to act as a carrier for the cells. Nerve function is all about electric pulses. This is where Shokuhfar’s nanotechnology research comes in: Last year, she was awarded a CAREER grant from NSF for her work using graphene in biomaterials research. [emphasis mine] “Graphene is a wonder material,” she says. “And it has very good electrical conductivity properties.”

The team is extending the application of this material for nerve cell printing. “Our work always comes back to the question, is it printable or not?” Shafiee says, adding that a successful material—a biocompatible, graphene-bound polymer—may just melt, mush or flat out fail under the pressure of printing. After all, imagine building up a substance more delicate than a soufflé using only the point of a needle. And in the nanotechnology world, a needlepoint is big, even clumsy.

Shafiee and Shokuhfar see these issues as mechanical obstacles that can be overcome.

“It’s like other 3D printers, you need a design to work from,” Shafiee says, adding that he will tweak and hone the methodology for printing nerve cells throughout his dissertation work. He is also hopeful that the material will have use beyond nerve regeneration.

This looks like a news release designed to publicize work funded at MTU by the US National Science Foundation (NSF) which is why there is no mention of published work.

One final comment regarding cellulose nanocrystals (CNC). They have also been called nanocrystalline cellulose (NCC), which you will still see but it seems CNC is emerging as the generic term. NCC has been trademarked by CelluForce, a Canadian company researching and producing CNC (or if you prefer, NCC) from forest products.

Canada’s Peachy Printer; a 3D printer that sells for $100.00

Leave a reply

On the heels of the Togo story featured in my Oct. 1, 2013 posting titled, Kodjo Afate Gnikou and his team in Togo create the world’s first 3D printer for less than $US100, it seems there’s another $100 3D printer and one much closer to home. From a Nov. 6, 2013 news item on CBC (Canadian Broadcasting News) online,

Rylan Grayston, 28, from Yorkton [Saskatchewan], said curiosity fuelled his quest to create a 3-D copier that sells for just $100. Other versions of the high-tech device exist for several thousand dollars or more.

“I didn’t have enough money for a 3-D printer that I wanted, so I just started thinking about how can I do this myself?” Grayston told CBC News in an interview at a shop in Saskatoon where he is working, with his brother, on his project.

“All I want to do is invent,” Grayston said about the possible riches associated with an affordable 3-D printer. “I would love to have lots of money so I can pull off my other inventions. … I don’t want to buy a yacht. I won’t be buying any fancy cars.”

According to the CBC news item, Grayston has no formal engineering or computer science training/education. I gather he likes to figure things out for himself. He and his brother have produced a video (one of a series produced for their Kickstarter and inidiegogo crowdfunding campaigns and other publicity and public outreach campaigns), explaining the principles behind their printer,

The CBC news item describes the technology more simply,

Grayston’s software converts an object into file data using a sound-card on his laptop. The information on that audio file is sent to mirrors and laser beams which vibrate and move in accord with the data to carve 3-D objects from a specialized acrylic resin.

Unlike other, more expensive, devices Grayston’s Peachy Printer has no motors or microprocessors.

At least one expert  is impressed (from the CBC news item),

“It blows my mind,” David Gerhard, a computer science professor at the University of Regina told CBC News. “The way that they’re doing things is so sort of different from the way normal 3-D printers work, that it’s quite amazing to see the shift in thinking.”

… 

“It completely changes the game,” Gerhard said of the machine he saw, first hand, in Yorkton. “To be able to do it for a hundred bucks and basically with stuff you can find around your house, that’s the thing that changes everything.”

The Peachy Printer website‘s store isn’t open yet but once the participants in the two crowdfunding campaigns have received their kits (you do have to build your 3D Peachy Printer) the rest of us can purchase one.

Interestingly, the Graystons have included a page on Ethics on their Peachy Printer website,

We want to run our business on a set of specific moral principles…

1. Using Freedom Respecting and Open Source software.  We think that you should have the right to:

– Choose and change how your computer does its computing.
– Let others change how your computer does its computing.
– Share your changes so that other people can benefit from them.
– See exactly how our software works.   We won’t ask you to trust us blindly, you can read our source code and see for yourself!

“I see software patents as a very sad anomaly, especially the way they are being used in this day and age.  I’m not saying that I disagree with patents entirely, or that I won’t ever use them.  I’m saying that I wish the whole situation was different…  More focused on really encouraging innovation instead of stifling it in the name of profit.  I think that patents can be a useful tool, however they should not be allowed to exist for 20 years.  That’s not in the best interest of innovation, that’s in the best interest of maximum profit for corporations.  I also find it rather disturbing that our legal system allows one person to sue another person simply for acting on some thoughts that they genuinely had on their own, wrote down in code, and implemented.”

– Rylan Grayston – Inventor of the Peachy Printer

,I am particularly interested in the first principle for which I applaud Rylan Grayston. I have written many times on the topic of patents (intellectual property) and my Nov. 23, 2012 posting which focuses on nanotechnology patents and a situation in the 3D printing community seems a good fit here. Of course, I wish I hadn’t seen this on the Peachy Printer Kickstarter campaign page,

You know how everyone and their Grandmother has a paper printer? Well, wouldn’t it be cool if everyone and their Grandmother had a 3D printer? It definitely would, but this isn’t a reality for 2 reasons:

– 3D Printers still quite expensive.

– They aren’t very simple. Good luck teaching your Grandma how to use one! [emphasis mine]

Old ladies can’t figure out complicated things, eh? The Graystons may want to check the Grandma Got STEM website profiled in my March 27, 2013 posting,,

Jeff Bittel thank you for a story (Mar. 26, 2013 on Slate) about Rachel Levy and the website where she gently blows up the notion/stereotype that older women don’t understand science and technology and that they are too old to learn (Note: A link has been removed),

Is your grandmother a particle physicist? Did she help the Navy build submarines or make concoctions of chlorine gas on the family’s front porch? Or is she a mathematician, inventor, or engineer? If so, then baby, your grandma’s got STEM.

Grandma Got STEM is a celebration of women working in and contributing to the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. It is also designed to combat the doting, fumbling, pie-making stereotype of grandmatrons.

That’s why Rachel Levy, an associate professor of mathematics at Harvey Mudd College, is collecting the stories of grandmas across the various fields of STEM. She first got the idea after hearing someone utter the phrase, “Just explain it like you would to your grandma.”

At first blush, such a thing seems harmless. But think about what it means—basically, all older women are stupid.

“For two or three years I thought about how I could address this issue without just making people angry and more inclined to use the phrase,” Levy told me. “If I could come up with a million examples of grandmothers who were tech-savvy, people wouldn’t say it anymore because it wouldn’t be apt.”

Here’s an excerpt from a Sept. 27, 2013 posting on Grandma Got STEM,

… mathematician, and electronic music composer Delia Derbyshire.  Derbyshire realized Ron Grainer’s score for the theme song of the popular science fiction series Doctor Who, but never received credit or royalties for her work.[emphasis mine]

Sigh.

While it’s more common to dismiss ‘old women’, it also happens to old men. Let’s hope that the Graystons come to realize they too will be old one day and dismissed as unable to learn new things, likely by their own children and grandchildren. Isn’t it time to start changing our attitudes towards aging and learning?

Moving on, it’s good to see innovation in Canada, I wonder if anyone will notice?  There’s so much bemoaning by Canadian politicians, bureaucrats, and the aristocrats of the business community about the lack of innovation here (as per my latest on the topic, a Nov. 1, 2013 posting) that no one seems to be asking the question, how do we encourage the innovation already present in Canada?

I also want to note that Canada’s Prairie provinces seem to be a good place to innovate. There’s the Peachy Printer in Saskatchewan and the Urbee car (my latest on that project is in an Aug. 28, 2012 posting) in Manitoba. Go Prairies!

Kodjo Afate Gnikou and his team in Togo create the world’s first 3D printer for less than $US100

Leave a reply

If you want to create a 3D printer for less $US100 scavenge your parts from electronic waste products as Kodjo Afate *Gnikou and his team did according to an Oct. 11, 2013 article by Neal Ungerleider for Fast Company (Note: Links have been removed),

The small West African nation of Togo is one of the last places you’d expect to find a maker space–a workshop where inventors and tinkerers can work on new projects to their hearts content. But inside the capital city of Lome, there’s a maker space. Woelab bills itself as “Africa’s first space for democratic technology” and it’s home to Kodjo Afate Gnikou. Gnikou’s latest invention was recently unveiled, and it’s amazing: A 3-D printer made from cheap discarded electronics of the kind found all over the world.

For anyone whose geography may need refreshing, there’s this from the Wikipedia Togo essay (Note: Links have been removed),

Togo Listeni/ˈtoʊɡoʊ/, officially the Togolese Republic (French: République Togolaise), is a country in West Africa bordered by Ghana to the west, Benin to the east and Burkina Faso to the north. It extends south to the Gulf of Guinea, where its capital Lomé is located. Togo covers an area of approximately 57,000 square kilometres (22,000 sq mi) with a population of approximately 6.7 million.

Togo is a tropical, sub-Saharan nation, highly dependent on agriculture, with a climate that provides good growing seasons. Togo is one of the smallest countries in all of Africa. The official language is French, with many other languages spoken in Togo, particularly those of the Gbe family.

An Oct. 10, 2013 posting on 3ders.org offers this about the project,

Using rails and belts from old scanners, the case of a discarded desktop computer and even bits of a diskette drive, Gnikou has created what is believed to be the first 3D printer made from e-waste.

Afate has been working on this experimental device for several months. He calls it W.AFATE, a composition of “W” WoeLab, and “Afate”.

Afate launched his project on ulule, an European crowdfunding site earlier this year, and raised more than 4,000 euro from supporters. The fund helped Afate support the cost of the original investment in time and equipment. W.AFATE 3D printer is now a working prototype. Some elements had to be bought new but, in all, his printer cost him 100 US dollars to build.

Afate says his printer can be useful on a daily basis as it can print various utensils needed in any household, that are not always easy to get hold of in west Africa.

You can find out more about Afate Gnikou’s WoeLab here (Note: You will need your French language skills),

 “Petite république numérique” au quartier Djidjolé, [Lomé,, Togo] “définitivement fablab à niveau de rue”, WɔɛLab est un lieu d’innovation partagée où s’élabore au quotidien de nouvelles approches de la collaboration productive vertueuse en contexte africain, suivant le cahier des charges- concept : #LowHighTech. Ses prérogatives sont : -Centre de Ressources Numériques, Incubateur de Technologie. Le lieu héberge en latence du potentiel technologique qui ne demande qu’à être exploité sous la double condition du libre et de la transparence. -Pépinière de structures des domaines web, numérique et TIC.  -Espace d’expression privilégiée de la Démocratie Technologique. Diffusion d’une connaissance LowHighTech accessible à tous, assistance mutuelle bénévole, accompagnement technologique gratuit pour les artisans du quartier, reconquête du pouvoir de faire, recherche d’une Intelligence Globale. -Collaboration Universitaire et Volet Recherche. Partenariats avec les centres de recherche et les écoles de design. Appui aux institutions dans la démarche de constitution de leur propre pôle Lab.

I’ll do my best with this very rough translation but as I’ve noted in previous postings, my French is rusty. This is not word for word but is an attempt to get at the meaning with the terminology that is in use here in Canada and the US, e.g., collaboration productive vertueuse is sustainable and collaborative innovation

Our fabrication lab is part of a digital enterprise, which is located in Djidjolé, neighbourhood of Lomé, Togo,, WoeLab is committed to sustainable, collaborative innovation. within the African context and according to the principles of LowHighTech Innovation: use of free materials and transparent governance. Our goals are (1) to make knowledge and equipment that benefits our community and adds to global efforts in the democratic use and production of technology and (2) to contribute to our common global intellectual pursuits.

If someone can better represent what’s being said in French, please add it in the comments or contact me directly.

There was mention of a successful crowdfunding campaign, on the French language crowdfunding platform, Ulule, which has resulted in the W.Afate 3D printer Afterwards, the WoeLab community produced a thank you video,

In searching for more information about Afate Grnkou’s 3D printer, and other projects I found this June 5, 2013 posting by Daniel Hayduck on his blog/magazine, The Developing Tray,

Last week I met someone here in Lome with an idea I can safely say I’ve never heard before.

Kodjo Afate Gnikou wants to put e-waste often dumped in West Africa to good use on Mars, building a colony for the future.

Using rails and belts from old scanners, the case of a discarded desktop computer and even bits of a diskette drive, he’s created what’s believed to be the first 3D printer made from e-waste.

…
The 33-year-old, who makes a living repairing cellphones and computers in his neighbourhood, says he believes this model is only the prototype for something much larger.

“I imagine e-waste and other waste being transported to Mars and I imagine a 3D printer can be sent to Mars to make homes for mankind,” says Afate.

“They all say it is merely a dream, that will never happen.”

There’s more about the W.Afate to Mars project on the 2013 spaceappschallenge.org website (from the website home page for the Paris edition (April 20 – 21, 2013) in which Afate Gnikou was participating),

The Paris edition of the Nasa Space Apps Challenge ! We are gathering experts from the aerospace field, and the developer and startup community in France, to tackle the challenges laid out during this event.

Le “International Space Apps Challenge” est une collaboration internationale sans précédent entre des agences gouvernementales, des institutions académiques et des associations et entreprises innovantes tout autour du monde.

Le Space Apps Challenge est un hackathon* international ayant lieu pendant 48 heures en même temps dans plusieurs villes autour du monde.

Congratulations to Kodjo Afate Gnikou and his team on creating a more affordable 3D printer by reusing e-waste.

* I misspelled Kodjo Afate Gnikou’s name as Grikou in my posting and have corrected this (I hope I found every instance) as of Oct. 14, 2013.