FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
ACS News Service Weekly PressPac: August 04, 2021
ArtSea Ink: a colorful, seaweed-based ink for 3D printing
Some artists are embracing 3D printing as a new medium, allowing them to create intricate 3D compositions that are difficult to produce in any other way. But the rigid, plastic-based materials used in many 3D printers require high heat for workability. Now, researchers reporting in ACS Omega have developed a colorful new ink for 2D and 3D art made of mica pigments in alginate, a sugar from seaweed that forms a stable gel without heat.
Although most 3D printers use petroleum-derived raw materials, alginate has also been explored as an inexpensive bioink. In water, the material forms a viscous gum that transforms into a robust hydrogel when cross-linked with calcium ions. But whereas plastics are available in many colors, alginate is almost colorless. Because color is such a vital component of art, Anne Arnold and colleagues wanted to add mica powders to alginate to create a new, vibrant ink for 2D and 3D compositions.
The researchers prepared an 8% alginate solution in water and added one of eight different colors of mica pigments. The mica powders dispersed completely in alginate solutions –– creating vibrant, pearlescent colors. The researchers could control the consistency of the media by adding more or less of the calcium chloride crosslinker. The team demonstrated the new bioinks, which they call ArtSea Ink, by 3D printing 2D art of a firefly, with a glow-in-the-dark additive to depict its abdomen, and a 3D structure showing the anatomy of the human brain. The 3D structures were stable over a period of several weeks if kept in a neutral, 200 mM calcium chloride solution. Although the alginate art currently isn’t stable over the long term, this could actually be an advantage because the material, unlike plastic, will biodegrade quickly if discarded, the researchers say.
The authors acknowledge funding from the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.
###
The American Chemical Society (ACS) is a nonprofit organization founded in 1876 and chartered by the U.S. Congress. ACS is committed to improving all lives through the transforming power of chemistry. Its mission is to advance scientific knowledge, empower a global community and champion scientific integrity, and its vision is a world built on science. The Society is a global leader in promoting excellence in science education and providing access to chemistry-related information and research through its multiple research solutions, peer-reviewed journals, scientific conferences, e-books and weekly news periodical Chemical & Engineering News. ACS journals are among the most cited, most trusted and most read within the scientific literature; however, ACS itself does not conduct chemical research. As a leader in scientific information solutions, its CAS division partners with global innovators to accelerate breakthroughs by curating, connecting and analyzing the world’s scientific knowledge. ACS’ main offices are in Washington, D.C., and Columbus, Ohio.
Registered journalists can subscribe to the ACS journalist news portal on EurekAlert! to access embargoed and public science press releases. For media inquiries, contact newsroom@acs.org.
Note: ACS does not conduct research but publishes and publicizes peer-reviewed scientific studies.
Media Contact
ACS Newsroom
newsroom@acs.org
###
La sociedad American Chemical Society (ACS) es una organización sin fines de lucro fundada en 1876 y aprobada por el Congreso de los Estados Unidos. La ACS se ha comprometido a mejorar la vida de todas las personas mediante la transformación del poder de la química. Su misión es promover el conocimiento científico, empoderar a la comunidad global y defender la integridad científica, y su visión es un mundo construido basándose en la ciencia. La Sociedad es líder mundial en la promoción de la excelencia en la educación científica y en el acceso a información e investigación relacionadas con la química a través de sus múltiples soluciones de investigación, publicaciones revisadas por expertos, conferencias científicas, libros electrónicos y noticias semanales periódicas de Chemical & Engineering News. Las revistas de la ACS se encuentran entre las más citadas, las más fiables y las más leídas en la literatura científica; sin embargo, la propia ACS no realiza investigación química. Como líder en soluciones de información científica, su división CAS se asocia con innovadores internacionales para acelerar los avances mediante la preservación, la conexión y el análisis de los conocimientos científicos del mundo. Las sedes principales de la ACS se encuentran en Washington, D.C., y Columbus, Ohio.
View the image
;void(0);){kind=link}