Dec 21, 2018 | By Cameron
Manufacturing with plant-based materials has become increasingly popular in recent years, with PLA (polylactic acid) leading the way in the 3D printing space. But a new entrant may be hitting the market soon: lignin. Found in the cell walls of vascular plants, lignin is a complex organic polymer that lends wood and bark their rigidity. Scientists at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory found that mixing lignin with nylon made it printable on an FDM (fused deposition modeling) 3D printer.
Lignin is a byproduct of biorefinery processes that extract fuel and chemicals from biomass, so finding more uses for it would be a huge value add to various industries, as project lead Amit Naskar points out, "Finding new uses for lignin can improve the economics of the entire biorefining process."
Lignin does not have the favorable melt characteristics of popular thermoplastics like ABS and PLA; it gets more viscous when heated, preventing it from extruding well. When combined with nylon, however, lignin’s melt viscosity decreased dramatically. The lignin-nylon composite has tensile strength similar to nylon alone but with a lower viscosity than ABS. By analyzing the 3D prints with neutron scattering at the High Flux Isotope Reactor and advanced microscopy at the Center for Nanophase Materials Science, the researchers discovered that adding nylon “appeared to have almost a lubrication or plasticizing effect on the composite."
Their samples included up to 50% lignin by weight, a record in the realm of experimenting with the organic polymer. Carbon fiber was later added to the composite, improving its heating characteristics, increasing print speed, and making parts stronger. The lignin-nylon composite is patent pending, but the print quality on the samples indicates that either the print settings need to be adjusted or the composite needs a bit more refinement before mass production.
"ORNL's world-class capabilities in materials characterization and synthesis are essential to the challenge of transforming byproducts like lignin into coproducts, generating potential new revenue streams for industry and creating novel renewable composites for advanced manufacturing," said Moe Khaleel, associate laboratory director for Energy and Environmental Sciences. The algae, coffee, beer, and other biomaterial filaments have been really fun to 3D print, and people can better appreciate sustainable manufacturing when they can hold a thing in their hands that’s made of what would otherwise be considered waste, so another plant-based option will be welcomed by the 3D printing community.
Posted in 3D Printing Materials
Maybe you also like:
- 343 Industries and Limbitless partner for Halo-themed 3D printed prosthetic arm for kids
- Indian researchers 3D bioprint load-bearing bones
- Aurora Labs, WorleyParsons form joint venture for metal 3D printing in oil & gas
- Scientists develop 3D printed robotic hand that can play Jingle Bells on the piano
- Titomic signs titanium powder supply deal with Lasting Titanium for Kinetic Fusion 3D printing system
- Cytosurge 3D prints Kokichi Sugihara's 'impossible object' at the microscale
- Researchers 3D print 'Digital Wood' with stunning internal structure
- Designer Ganit Goldstein unveils new 3D printed woven shoes 'Between The Layers'
- The stiffest possible material is 3D printed by ETH Zurich
- Optomec acquires Huffman for 3D metal printing gas turbine replacement parts
A pure lignin filmanent seems useful, I don't see the added value of creating a lignin-nylon composite and it is not outlined. I do see some researchers who are spending a lot of money on research and now are blocking further research with a patent, which is also expensive, OMG. Meanwhile I will be using PLA; Thank you!
3Ders.org provides the latest news about 3D printing technology and 3D printers. We are now seven years old and have around 1.5 million unique visitors per month.
