7. BioFabricating Materials

Since this week, I’ve come to Fablab Barcelona to participate in Fabricademy. Last summer, I joined Feature Fabrics Mexico, which sparked my interest in textiles! Working with people who share similar interests, and from different countries, for a common goal was both exciting and a valuable experience. When I decided to enroll in Fabricademy, I consulted with Anastasia, who helped arrange it for me.

Usually, I work at my Fablab in Japan, with Nuria, my remote instructor from Leon. However, for these three weeks, I’ll be working directly under Petra in Barcelona, alongside everyone else attending here—That sounds awsome!

Research

For the project, I'm doing some research. At Beyond Fashion in Mexico, I saw clothing made from grape-skin leather. There are so many types of bio-leather emerging now, like cactus leather and apple-skin leather... I even already have a wallet made from pineapple leather that I love. I’ve also come across works made from soy leather by an art collective in Indonesia, and in Japan, leather made from discarded tea leaves. I can really feel how rapidly the development of biomaterials is progressing!

• chakara
• XXLab

I once applied a method using alginate in cooking. I put beaten egg yolk into an alginate solution and then dropped it into water with dissolved calcium chloride using a syringe. I can’t wait to make biofabric using the same method! It’s so exciting.

References & Inspiration

All what I did with Petra and the classmates here:

-Crafted material making

-Grown material making

-3D bioprinting

Crafterd Material

-1. Sodium Alginate - Bio yarm & Bio plastic

"ingredients"

A * Sodium Alginate 8gr * Water 400ml * Glyceline 60gr * mica

B * Calcium chloride 60gr * Water 600ml

"recipe"

A
* Put water on the pot * Add the sodium alginate and mix with water. * Add the glyceline into the pod and mix well. * With pink mica, make it pink.

B * Put water on the pot * Add the calcium chloride and mix well.

When A and B are prepared... * Draw A into the syrinder. * Add the glyceline into the pod and mix well.

• Avoid touching the tip of the cylinder.
• First, add A little by little into the pod containing B.
• Then, continuously press the cylinder to fully dispense A.
• The A that was poured into B will solidify. 　 When scooped by hand, it forms a thread-like 　shape. Let it dry.=Bio yarm.
• Pour half of A onto a fabric stretched in an 　embroidery hoop to create a mold, let it 　harden=bioplastic.

-2. Gelatine-Bio foam & Bio plastic

"ingredients" * Gelatine 48gr
* Water 240ml * Glyceline 48gr * soap * Spirulina powder

"recipe" * Heat the pot. * Add water to the pot, then add gelatin and heat it while stirring until the gelatin is dissolved. * Add the spirulina powder to make it green. * Pour half of it directly into the mold. =Bio plastic * Add a small amount of detergent to the remaining half, then mix it further with 　an immersion blender. * After that, pour it into the mold.=Bio foam * Once both have cooled, they are ready!

-3.Agar-Agar Bio foil

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"ingredients" * Agar-Agar 20gr * Water 600ml * Glyceline 32gr * mica

"recipe"

• Put water on the pod
• Heat the pot.
• Add the agar-agar and melt it.
• Add glyceline into the pod and mix well 　 untill it melts.
• Pour the mica into red!
• Then, pour it into the mold and wait for it to cool.

-4.Pine Resine- Bio resin

"ingredientes" * Pine Resin 45gr * Canmauba wax 5g * Alchohol 20ml * Fillen 40gr

"recipe" * Line the mold with baking paper and wrap 　it around the inside of the lid as well. * Heat the pot. * Place the pot over heat and melt the pine resin. * Once the pine resin has melted, add canmauba wax and alchohol and melt them. * Add rhe fillen. * Quickly pour it into the mold, cover it 　with the lid, and press down from the top.

Grown Material

■KOMBUCHA

"ingrientes"

Beer * Beer 5L * Water 5L
* Sugar
* Vinegar

Wine * Wine
* Sugar
* Vinegar

Tea
* Tea bags
* Water 　2L
* Sugar * Vinegar

"recipe"

Beer * Pour beer and water into a large container in a 1:1 ratio. * Add sugar. * Add vinegar. * Check the pH level.

Wine * Pour wine. * Add sugar and vinegar and mix them. * Check the pH level.

Tea * Steep a tea bag in hot water to make tea. * Add sugar and vinegar and mix them. * Check the pH level.

• Put the Kombucha into each container.
• Cover it with a cloth and tie it around the 　sides of the container with a string to keep 　out debris.
• Place it in a dark location..

■MICELIUM

To use the Mycelium, we have to do for preparation-sterilise!!

Then we did the 2 ways.

Recipe 1 -MOLD ""

Recipe 2 -PLASTIC TRAY ""

*How to pour into the plastic tray.

3D bio-printing

We tried both recipes from Petra's tutorial. - Petra's Tutorial

Recipe 1 ""

-Press the back side of the cylinder against the material, then twist the cylinder to gradually feed the material into it.

-Once it's in the cylinder, blow it clean and securely close the lid.

Recipe 2 ""

How to do 3D printing

-For 3D bio-printing, it`s necessary to hack the 3D printer. Here is also the video how to hack!

-Connect to the compressor in the correct order, including how to open the valve.

• 3D printer hack for Bio printing

Additional work

Building on what I did with Petra, I did some crafted material making at home over the weekend with my classmate, Germa

1. Soldium Alginate-Bio yarm

=== "ingredients"

 A  * Sodium Alginate  8gr
    * Water          400ml
    * Glyceline       60gr
    * Spirulina powder

 B  * Calcium chloride 60gr
    * Water           600ml


=== "recipe"

  A * Put water on the pot
    * Add the sodium alginate and mix with water.
    * Add the glyceline into the pod and mix well.
    * With spirulina powder, make it green.

  B * Put water on the pot
    * Add the calcium chloride and mix well.

  * When A and B are prepared...
    * Draw A into the syrinder.
    * Add the glyceline into the pod and mix well.

  * Avoid touching the tip of the cylinder.
  * First, add A little by little into the pod 
    containing B.
  * Then, continuously press the cylinder to 
    fully dispense A.

1-1	1-2	1-3	1-4

"1-1"

I also tried using alginate for another experiment. I used an egg carton as a mold to create two hemispheres. Once they dried, I attempted to attach the two pieces to form a sphere.

"1-2"

In a slightly deep bowl, pour the alginate solution and add dried flowers, arranging them in the bowl to create a slight indentation. Pour the calcium chloride solution into this indentation, ensuring it evenly covers the surface.

"1-3"

I changed the natural color to red. Since the red natural color was in liquid form, I mixed it with water to reach the required quantity.

"1-4"

I made a patterned piece using rice noodles.

"1-5"

With natural ink that we did on the week04, colored the soldium alginate and made the pink/red strings.

Created a piece with Germa using rice flour noodles.

Rice & cabbage dye exploration-Germariliz Ruiz & Yuki Takemura 2024

1. Agar-Agar-Bio plastic

Flower	Carbon	Warm water	2 types

=== "ingredients"

    * Agar-Agar       20gr
    * Water          600ml
    * Glyceline       32gr
    * Vinegar      2 big spoons
    * Carbon       2 small spoons
    * Dry Floweres


=== "recipe"

    * Put water on the pod
    * Heat the pod. 
    * Add the gar-agar and melt it.
    * Add glyceline into the pod and mix well 　 
      untill it melts.
    * Divide in half.
    * Place half into the tray and sprinkle 　 
      dried flowers over it.
    * Heat the other half again and add carbon. 
      Then, pour it into the mold and wait for it to cool.
    * Once they’ve cooled and solidified, 
    　let’s try layering the two (the flower and 
      the charcoal).

Flowers Agar Agar Bioplastic (30x23 cm) -Germariliz Ruiz & Yuki Takemura 2024

1. Tapioca

Ingredientes	Add tapioca	Mix	Add flowers

=== "ingredients"

    * Tapioca powder  40gr
    * Water          240ml
    * Glyceline       16gr
    * Vinegar      2 big spoons (30ml)
    * Dry Floweres
    * Natural color (violet)


=== "recipe"

    * Put water on the pot
    * Add the sodium alginate and mix with water.
    * Moreover add the glyceline into the pod and mix well.

Since it's not solidifying well, consult Petra. Use an immersion blender and reheat the mixture and then set it in the mold to firm up.

Overview material research outcomes

Biofoam	Gelatin foil	Bioresin	Biosilicone
Starch Rubber	Biolinoleum	Alginate net	Alginate foil
Alginate string	Agar foil	Bio composite	Reused PLA

Documenting and comparing experiments

TEST SERIE BIO-PLASTIC

Material pic	Material name	polymer	plastifier	filler	emulsifier
	bio-rainbow	biokelp powder 12 gr	glycerol 100 ml	rainbow dust 1 kg	green soap a drop
	bio-rainbow	biokelp powder 12 gr	glycerol 100 ml	rainbow dust 1 kg	green soap a drop
	bio-rainbow	biokelp powder 12 gr	glycerol 100 ml	rainbow dust 1 kg	green soap a drop
	bio-rainbow	biokelp powder 12 gr	glycerol 100 ml	rainbow dust 1 kg	green soap a drop

weekly assignment

Check out the weekly assignment here or login to your NuEval progress and evaluation page.

about your images..delete the tip!!

1. Remember to credit/reference all your images to their authors. Open source helps us create change faster together, but we all deserve recognition for what we make, design, think, develop.

2. remember to resize and optimize all your images. You will run out of space and the more data, the more servers, the more cooling systems and energy wasted :) make a choice at every image :)

This image is optimised in size with resolution 72 and passed through tinypng for final optimisation. Remove tips when you don't need them anymore!

get inspired!

Check out and research alumni pages to betetr understand how to document and get inspired

• Comparison research - Aslı Aydın Aksan - TextileLab Amsterdam

• Comparison research - Barbara Rakovska FabLab Bcn

• Jute research - Julija Karas - FabLab Bcn

• Polarisation in bioplastics Viviane Labelle - EchoFab

• Local waste streams - Marieke van Eyndhoven

Add your fav alumni's pages as references