3D printed nanocellulose upscaled for green architectural applications

The development industry today consumes 50 percent of the world’s fossil resources, generates 40 percent of world waste and causes 39 percent of world carbon dioxide emissions. There’s a growing line of research into biomaterials and their applications, with the intention to transition to a greener future in keeping with, for instance, the European Green Deal.

Nanocellulose isn’t a brand new biomaterial, and its properties as a hydrogel are known inside the field of biomedicine, where it might be 3D printed into scaffolds for tissue and cell growth, because of its biocompatibility and wetness. But it surely has never been dried and used as an architectural material before.

“For the primary time now we have explored an architectural application of nanocellulose hydrogel. Specifically, we provided the to this point missing knowledge on its design-related features, and showcased, with the assistance of our samples and prototypes, the tuneability of those features through custom digital design and robotic 3D printing,” says Malgorzata Zboinska, lead creator of the study from Chalmers University of Technology.

The team used nanocellulose fibres and water, with the addition of an algae-based material called alginate. The alginate allowed the researchers to supply a 3D printable material, because the alginate added an additional flexibility to the fabric when it dried.

Cellulose is coined as essentially the most abundant eco-friendly alternative to plastic, because it is certainly one of the byproducts of the world’s largest industries. “The nanocellulose utilized in this study could be acquired from forestry, agriculture, paper mills and straw residues from agriculture. It’s a really abundant material in that sense,” says Malgorzata Zboinska.

3D printing and nanocellulose/ A resource efficient technique

The architectural industry is today surrounded by access to digital technologies which allows for a wider range of recent techniques for use, but there may be a niche within the knowledge of how these techniques could be applied. In keeping with the European Green Deal, as of 2030, buildings in Europe should be more resource-efficient, and this could be achieved through elevated reuse and recycling of materials, reminiscent of with nanocellulose, an upcycled, byproduct from industry. Similtaneously buildings are to turn into more circular, cutting-edge digital techniques are highlighted as essential leverages for achieving these goals.

“3D printing is a really resource efficient technique. It allows us to make products without other things reminiscent of dies and casting forms, so there may be less waste material. It is usually very energy efficient. The robotic 3D printing system we employ doesn’t use heat, just air pressure. This protects loads of energy as we’re only working at room temperature,” says Malgorzata Zboinska.

The energy efficient process relies on the shear thinning properties of the nanocellulose hydrogel. If you apply pressure it liquifies allowing it to be 3D printed, but if you take away the pressure it maintains its shape. This permits the researchers to work without the energy intensive processes which can be commonplace in the development industry.

Malgorzata Zboinska and her team designed many various toolpaths to be utilized in the robotic 3D printing process to see how the nanocellulose hydrogel would behave when it dried in several shapes and patterns. These dried shapes could then be applied as a basis to design a big selection of architectural standalone components, reminiscent of lightweight room dividers, blinds, and wall panel systems. They may also form the premise for coatings of existing constructing components, reminiscent of tiles to clad partitions, acoustic elements for damping sound, and combined with other materials to clad skeleton partitions.

The longer term of greener constructing materials

“Traditional constructing materials are designed to last for lots of of years. Often, they’ve predictable behaviours and homogenous properties. Now we have concrete, glass and all types of hard materials that endure and we know the way they’ll age over time. Contrary to this, biobased materials contain organic matter, that’s from the outset designed to biodegrade and cycle back into nature. We, due to this fact, need to accumulate completely recent knowledge on how we could apply them in architecture, and the way we could embrace their shorter life cycle loops and heterogenous behaviour patterns, resembling more those present in nature relatively than in a man-made and fully controlled environment. Design researchers and designers at the moment are intensely trying to find ways of designing products constructed from these materials, each for function and for aesthetics,” says Malgorzata Zboinska.

This study provides the primary steps to show the upscaling potentials of ambient-dried, 3D-printed nanocellulose membrane constructs, in addition to a brand new understanding of the connection between the design of the fabric’s deposition pathways via 3D printing, and the dimensional, textural, and geometric effects in the ultimate constructs. This data is a obligatory stepping stone that can allow Malgorzata Zboinska and her team to develop, through further research, applications of nanocellulose in architectural products that need to fulfill specific functional and aesthetic user requirements.

“The yet not fully known properties of novel biobased materials prompt architectural researchers to determine alternative approaches to designing these recent products, not only when it comes to the functional qualities, but additionally the acceptance from the users. The aesthetics of biobased materials are a crucial a part of this. If we’re to propose these biobased materials to society and other people, we’d like to work with the design as well. This becomes a really strong element for the acceptance of those materials. If people don’t accept them, we won’t reach the goals of a circular economy and sustainable built environment.”