More on 4-D Printing
Engineers at George Tech and Singapore University of Technology and Design have built a 4-D printer: “The machine they ultimately devised combines four different printing techniques, including aerosol, inkjet, direct ink write and fused deposition modeling. It can handle a multitude of stiff and elastic materials including hydrogels, silver nanoparticle-based conductive inks, liquid crystal elastomers and shape memory polymers, or SMPs. SMPs, which are the most common substances used in 4-D printing, can be programmed to “remember” a shape and then transform into it when heated. With this new technology, the researchers can print higher-quality SMPs capable of making more intricate shape changes than in the past, opening the door for a multitude of functional 4-D applications and designs.” Time will tell if this machine, using living-cell bioink, can print a transplantable kidney. MORE
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