7. BioFabricating Materials¶
Research¶
This week I've focused in making biocomposite recipes for extruction and fluids 3D printing with our machine DELTA_WASP.
I don't want to work with animal-based aglutinants, so I won't do gelatine-based biomaterials.
I'm focusing on vegetal-based aglutinants and fillings coming from food waste and waste in our workshops, such as wooddust.
I'm open to work with wool in the near future as it's an abundant material in our region, the Basque Country, and it's necessary and beneficial to shear the sheeps and at the moment the industry is unable to absorb that material.
get inspired!
Check out and research alumni pages to betetr understand how to document and get inspired
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Comparison research - Aslı Aydın Aksan - TextileLab Amsterdam
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Comparison research - Barbara Rakovska FabLab Bcn
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Jute research - Julija Karas - FabLab Bcn
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Polarisation in bioplastics Viviane Labelle - EchoFab
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Local waste streams - Marieke van Eyndhoven
References & Inspiration¶
Cultivar Culturas: Ecologías del Lúpulo by Susana Cámara Leret
FUTURE PROTEIN by IM-A Studio ○ S+T+ARTS Residencies HUNGRY ECOCITIES
As part of the Future Protein Project, IM-A Studio (Katya Bryskina and Nataly Khadziakova) created design objects from shell-based materials to demonstrate the ecological footprint of our food system, use shells to manage waste after mussel consumption, and experiment with 3D printing. All objects were designed with AI and generative design and 3D printed. Mussels have all the factors: they filter water, collect nitrogen, phosphorus, and CO2 while growing, enhance biodiversity, and are highly nutritive. Mussels’ ecological footprint can be evaluated using CO2, bio- and nitrogen credits, sustainable food sourcing, and shell-based waste management.
PineSkins is a versatile, leather-like material made of inner bark of pine trees, a by-product of the tree cutting industry. On a broader level PineSkins looks at the resources of forests. It aims to create alternative production paradigms for the tree cutting industry with less emphasis on timber production. It does so by using small scale tree cutters as a network for bark access while they perform seasonal cutting. It then creates a new craft that generates income for local communities and creates appreciation for unassuming materials from the local forest.
Pulp Faction is a transdisciplinary project at the intersection of microbiology, digital fabrication and architecture that provides an alternative to extractive material sourcing. These new material systems are produced through biofabrication and digital computation. Pulp Faction developed a method for 3D printing a mycelium composite material for architectural use. The project employs the transformative power of biology to repurpose abundant by-products of plant fibres into a new class of performative materials for architecture. These are self-supporting, are good thermal and acoustic insulators and are simultaneously hydrophobic and hygroscopic.
Mycelium sausages is a technique in which live mycelium is mixed with a substrate, pushed into a cotton bandage and freely woven into a shape. Over 2-3 weeks the material will grow and dry into a robust structure. The process can be thought of as something between traditional rattan weaving and manual 3D printing, as it allows one to form a diverse range of shapes using a long tube of mycelium. The technique was developed to explore new ways of fabricating mycelium objects without the need for moulds.
Tools¶
- sodium alginate, cmc, pectin, ...
- [pots, jars, measuring spoons, spatulas,tongs, wisk, hot plate, etc]
- [weighing scale, mixer, ]
Process and workflow¶
Pectin¶
* 150 gr pectine
* 300 gr glycerin
* 292 gr mate herb
* 2200 ml water
* 1 pot
* 1 electric plate
* 1 spatula
* 1 mold or plastic sheet
* measure pectin - measure glycerin - measure mate herb - measure water
* dissolve the ingredients when cold
* heat over low heat while mixing with the spatula
* when it begins to gel, it is recommended to use an electric mixer
* once there are no more lumps, cook without bringing it to a boil
* Pour directly into the mold
* 4 / 5 days to dry
Sodium alginate_biothreads¶
* 25 gr sodium alginate
* 50/60 gr glycerin
* 600 ml water
* Calcium chloride solution for curing 10%
* ex: 300ml water / 30 gr calcium chloride
* 1 mixing recipent
* 1 syringe
* 1 spatula
* 1 recipient with calcium chrotide
* PREPARATION
* Weigh the ingredients for the alginate thread (alginate, glycerin, water)
* Mix the ingredients in cold
* Mix the alginate and glycerin in a blender with little water. Mix until obtaining a thick and homogeneous paste
* Add the rest of the water and mix again
* Let the alginate mixture sit overnight to allow bubbles to rise to the surface.
* EXTRUSION
* Fill a syringe with the alginate mixture
* Extrude the alginate gently and continuously directly into the calcium chloride bath
Sodium alginate + CMC¶
I've been working on this recipe for extrusion and fluids 3D printing. I've work this recipe with 2 different fillings, soil and wood dust.
* 4 gr sodium alginate
* 5 gr CMC
* 200 ml water
* 1 tbsp glycerol
* 2 drops of SHAROMIX 705 (to prevent mold)
* 25 tbsp of filling (soil / wood dust)
* 1 mixing recipent
* 1 syringe
* 1 spatula
* Mix ingredients at room temperature
* Mix by hand with a spatura, little by little but many times until obtaining a paste without lumps
Xantana Gum¶
I've been working on this recipe for extrusion and fluids 3D printing. I've work this recipe with 2 different fillings, soil and wood dust. Soil I've collected from surrounding areas of Bilbao and I've dry it, break it down and sieve it.
* 8 gr xantana gum
* 200 ml water
* 2 drops of SHAROMIX 705 (to prevent mold)
* 20 tbsp of filling (soil / wood dust)
* 1 mixing recipent
* 1 syringe
* 1 spatula
* Mix ingredients at room temperature
* Mix by hand with a spatura, little by little but many times until obtaining a paste without lumps
We decided to scalate this recipe to test the material with the fluid's 3D printed DELTA_WASP
RESULTS¶
Mycelium¶
Mycelium: The network of branched tubular fungi filaments (individually known as hyphae).
Mycorrhizal network: Made up of mycelium, these networks allow plants to exchange sugars, nutrients, water, and more.
Hyphae: The basic fungal unit; the individual fungi filaments that form any fungi.
Mycelium is made up of tiny filaments called hyphae, some of which are too small to see. Hyphae combine as they grow to form larger mycelial threads that branch out through the soil, forming vast networks that can stretch for miles. These massive mycelial organisms allow fungi to communicate with each other by sending chemical signals through the soil. (source: naturefynd)
Mycelium (pl.: mycelia) is a root-like structure of a fungus consisting of a mass of branching, thread-like hyphae. Its normal form is that of branched, slender, entangled, anastomosing, hyaline threads. Fungal colonies composed of mycelium are found in and on soil and many other substrates. A typical single spore germinates into a monokaryotic mycelium, which cannot reproduce sexually; when two compatible monokaryotic mycelia join and form a dikaryotic mycelium, that mycelium may form fruiting bodies such as mushrooms. A mycelium may be minute, forming a colony that is too small to see, or may grow to span thousands of acres as in Armillaria.
Through the mycelium, a fungus absorbs nutrients from its environment. It does this in a two-stage process. First, the hyphae secrete enzymes onto or into the food source, which break down biological polymers into smaller units such as monomers. These monomers are then absorbed into the mycelium by facilitated diffusion and active transport.
Mycelia are vital in terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems for their role in the decomposition of plant material. They contribute to the organic fraction of soil, and their growth releases carbon dioxide back into the atmosphere (see carbon cycle). Ectomycorrhizal extramatrical mycelium, as well as the mycelium of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi, increase the efficiency of water and nutrient absorption of most plants and confers resistance to some plant pathogens. Mycelium is an important food source for many soil invertebrates. They are vital to agriculture and are important to almost all species of plants, many species co-evolving with the fungi. Mycelium is a primary factor in some plants' health, nutrient intake and growth, with mycelium being a major factor to plant fitness. Networks of mycelia can transport water and spikes of electrical potential. (source: Wikipedia)
· Mycelium based materials Mycelium-based composites require a fungus and substrate. “Mycelium” is a term referring to the network of branching fibers, called hyphae, that are created by a fungus to grow and feed. When introduced to a substrate, the fungi will penetrate using their mycelium network, which then breaks down the substrate into basic nutrients for the fungi. By this method, the fungi can grow. For mycelium-based composites, the substrate is not fully broken down during this process and is instead kept intertwined with the mycelium. (source: Wikipedia)
DOCUMENTATION: - Advanced Materials From Fungal Mycelium: Fabrication and Tuning of Physical Properties - Engineering living and regenerative fungal–bacterial biocomposite structures - Advanced mycelium materials as potential self-growing biomedical scaffolds
Process and workflow¶
1) Isolation of new strains
2) Strain collection
3)Breeding
4)Spawn Bagasse is a suitable substrate for the manufacture of mycelium composites.
5) Inoculation
We had a few bagasse plates and we learnt 3 different ways to inoculate them from different mycelium sources: firsly from a mycelium agar plate grown from mycelium collected in the wild, second directly from a fungi found in the woods. And thirdly, from a previous mycelium batch.
6)Desinfection
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Recipes¶
PECTIN (big format)
* 150 gr pectine
* 300 gr glycerin
* 292 gr mate herb
* 2200 ml water
Sodium alginate_biothreads
* 25 gr sodium alginate
* 50/60 gr glycerin
* 600 ml water
* Calcium chloride solution for curing 10%
* ex: 300ml water / 30 gr calcium chloride
Sodium alginate + CMC
* 4 gr sodium alginate
* 5 gr CMC
* 200 ml water
* 1 tbsp glycerol
* 2 drops of SHAROMIX 705 (to prevent mold)
* 25 tbsp of filling (soil / wood dust)
* ex: 300ml water / 30 gr calcium chloride
Xantana Gum
* 8 gr xantana gum
* 200 ml water
* 2 drops of SHAROMIX 705 (to prevent mold)
* 20 tbsp of filling (soil / wood dust)