BIOFABRICATING¶

References:

NOTES

Bioplastics can...

Take any shape (volume, surface, sheet...)
Have different performance by changing the dosages of water, gelatin and glycerol (elastic -> rigid)
Be transparent & smooth or opaque & fluffy if you add air inside the mix
Dissolve in the water (it is not water resistant)
Be easily recycled and reused by warming it again
Don’t smell good (especially when you cook it, once dry the smell begins to fade)
Glues to wood, metal, cardboard but not on glass or plastic surface
Doesn’t resist the heat (never put bioplastic in the oven, it will melt !)
If you create a large volume of bioplastic it will tend to mold
It will shrink and change its shape while it dries (use a frame if you don't want it to lose it's shape)

PLASTICS¶

BIOPLASTICS¶

AGAR AGAR RECIPE

Agar-agar is a jelly-like substance, obtained from algae. Agar forms the supporting structure in the cell walls of certain species of algae. These algae are known as agarophytes, and belong to the Rhodophyta (red algae) phylum.

TOOLS

Cooker/stove/hotplate
Teaspoon
Measuring Cup
Cooking pot, Scale
Thermometer
Stirring spoon
Flat surface

RECIPE

AGAR AGAR: 4Grams
GLYCEROL: 2.5Ml
WATER: 420Ml

STEPS

ONE

Mix all of the ingredients together in a pot in the amounts above, and stir until agar and glycerol dissolve in the water.

TWO

Put the pot on the stove and heat the mixture to 95o C or to just below boiling. Keep stirring the whole time. When it reaches 95o (or begins to froth), remove from the heat. Keep stirring and skim off any of the froth from the top with a spoon. Any froth left on the surface will cause air bubbles in your plastic sheet.

THREE

Pour liquid onto a flat surface or mold. A silicon sheet works well with a frame (you can cut this from scrap wood), or alternatively, lay a silicon sheet on a baking tray with edges. Let dry for 1-2 days, depending on temperature and humidity levels.

Biography

ALGINATE RECIPE

Alginic acid, also called algin, is a polysaccharide distributed widely in the cell walls of brown algae which is hydrophilic and forms a viscous gum when hydrated. Its salts with metals such as sodium and calcium are known as alginates. It is a significant component of the biofilms produced by the bacterium Pseudomonas aeruginosa, a major pathogen found in the lungs of some people who have cystic fibrosis. The biofilm and P. aeruginosa have a high resistance to antibiotics and are susceptible to inhibition by macrophages. Its colour ranges from white to yellowish-brown. It is sold in filamentous, granular or powdered forms.

FIRST MIXTURE

SODIUM ALGINATE: 5Grams
WATER (better distilled): 1L

SECOND MIXTURE

CALCIUM LATATE: 6Grams
WATER: 50Ml

What we did is to extrude the first mixture with a syringe and introduce into the second mixture because Calcium solidifies the alginate. We wait a few minutes and take out. It's like a thread. We live it at Fablab to get dry

GELATINE RECIPE

TOOLS

balance - heater
pan
spoon
clean glass, plastic or alumin board or mold
cold water (240 ml)
gelatin powder (48 g)
glycerol (12 g)

STEPS

ONE

First mix the cold water and the gelatin powder in the pan without heating.

TWO

Gradually, the mixture turns into a granular yellow pale paste.

THREE

Then start heating the preparation while stirring slowly so that there are no lumps.

FOUR

Once the preparation has become liquid and homogeneous add the glycerin into the mixture.

FIVE

Continue mixing and heating until you begin to see a whitish deposit on the surface of your mixture. If you want a transparent matter you have to remove completely this white foam with a spoon. Otherwise, you can keep it inside the mixture, it will dry on the surface and create a fluffy part. You can also make more foam by adding air inside your mix. 6) Now pour your mixture into the mold or the prepared surface. It's preferable to take a glass or aluminum mold to cast its bioplastic because a wooden or cardboard surface will probably stick and damage the desired shape of the bioplastic. The drying time depends on several factors : the dosages of water, gelatin and glycerol put in the mixture ; the thickness of your final product and also the temperature and humidity of the room in which you made it dry. It's best to wait a week of drying before taking off the bioplastic. If you remove it too soon, it's most likely that it will deform by continuing to dry.

MELON PEELS RECIPE

ORANGE PEELS RECIPE

2 orange peels
30ml gelatine
30 ml glicerine

HIBISCUS RECIPE

RED TEA

45ml gelatine
15 glicerine
100ml water

MELON SEEDS

COFFEE

90ml gelatine
35ml glicerine
200ml water
4 spoons coffee

MICA

YERBA MATE

60ml glicerine
60ml gelatine
200ml water
2 big spoon of yerba mate

BIO PENCIL CASE¶

RECIPE

450ml gelatine 300ml glicerine 900ml water 6grms paella spices

BIO PENCIL CASE from lucrecia strano on Vimeo.

KOMBUCHA¶

RECIPE

GREEN TEA: 55Grams
SUGAR: 55Grams
WATER: 1L
SODIUM BICARBONATE: 1u

STEPS

ONE

Boil the water, the let cool to below 30° celcius. Add the tea and sugar, and infuse for 5 min. Do not use hot tea in the preparation (above 35 ° C), as it can kill the bacterial culture.

TWO

When the tea mixture is below 30 degrees celcius in temperature, pour into a sterilized canning jar (do not use a ceramic or metalic container), and cover with cloth. Leave to ferment at a temperature of 25 - 28 degrees celcius. The container should be open, but covered with some cloth or paper towel to avoid contamination. Kombucha (also known as Manchurian fungus, tea fungus or Chinese fungus) is a fermented beverage with a slight acid taste obtained from sweetened tea fermented by a gelatinous microorganism colony. Organisms present are: Bacterium xylinum, Gluconobulario oxydans and fungi similar to yeasts, of Ascomycetes genus, such as Saccharomycodes ludwigii, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Schizosaccharomyces pombe, Pichia fermentans and Zygosaccharomyces bailii. The growth of the kombucha culture, or 'scoby', is a process of growth in a span of eight to fourteen days depending on environmental conditions, reaching a thickness of seven to twelve millimeters.

THREE

Take out the Scoby culture from the jar and put it on a piece of wood or other type of base where it will dry. Spread baking soda on it with a spoon. The soda has to cover the entire surface. By hand, spread the baking soda to help the Scoby absorb it. Turn the scoby, repeat the previous process and let it dry. You can take out the excess bicarbonate with a paper towel. After it dries, you will have a sample of fabric that you can sew, cut, and print on.

Biography

MYCILUM EXPERIMENT WITH JESICA DIAS¶

The process with Mycelium is very similar to what we have done two weeks earlier during bacterial dying.

STEPS

ONE

The first step was to insert in our petri dish any material from cellulose, which will be the food of mycilium.

TWO

With a drop count we put distilled water (in my case it was 12ml) and close the petri dish

THREE

We take the petri dish to the sterilizer and leave it for 20 minutes

FOUR

When removing it we must insert the bacteria. Jesica Dias was our assistant that day and has taken care of inserting it. He made an alcohol circle leaving in the middle the camping gas and the discs with the different types of mycilium, which he carefully extracted and placed inside our petri dishes.

FIVE

We seal the petri dish and now we continue waitting to see results :)