The overall goal of this work is the application of bio-based materials in an aerospace structure, while maintaining the structural-mechanical performance in accordance with its certification standards. This goal was pursued through the use of hybrid composites made from a combination of conventional (carbon) and bio-based fiber composites (flax). The cockpit door of an ultralight helicopter was chosen to prove the applicability of this hybrid composite. A reference door, built from carbon-fiber-reinforced polymers, was considered a benchmark to the requirements in terms of mass, stiffness, damping, ecological efficiency and costs. First, the benchmark door was built and characterized. Then the geometry was redesigned for the application of flax fiber composites, leading to an increase of the areal moment of inertia. The new geometry was then analyzed using multiple gravity loads. Highly loaded areas were locally reinforced with carbon prepregs. Tensile tests and sub- component

Strohrmann, Katharina, André, Nicolas, Manfred, Hajek

Designs to Dye for: Autonomy's New-Materials Revolution

19AVEP05_055/1/2019

From pineapples to bacteria, Envisage's research is focused on new mobility's ‘inside’ story. Evolving vehicle engineering constantly reshapes vehicle architectures. But along with electrified drive-trains and autonomous capabilities is the need for a mindset shift in materials, opening the way for new sustainable solutions in color, materials and finish (CMF). Future cabins could have pineapple, banana, coconut and eucalyptus among the material solutions-with bacteria playing a potentially positive role. All these sources are at play for research designer Sammie Mayers-Nissen and her colleagues at Envisage, the U.K.-based specialist engineering services provider helping to find sustainable alternatives to plastic, leather and harmful dyes that still meet quality, durability and cost demands. “As always, in terms of R&D of alternative materials and color, production-cost consideration is the massive driver, with performance very close behind,” said Mayers-Nissen.

Birch, Stuart

Composite Advances Lignin as Renewable 3D Printing Material

TBMG-339353/1/2019

Lignin is the material left over from the processing of biomass. It gives plants rigidity and also makes biomass resistant to being broken down into useful products. Researchers combined a melt-stable hardwood lignin with conventional plastic, a low-melting nylon, and carbon fiber to create a composite with just the right characteristics for extrusion and weld strength between layers during the printing process, as well as excellent mechanical properties.

Large-Volume Extruder for 3D Printers

TBMG-335951/1/2019

A low-cost 3D bioprinter was built by modifying a standard desktop 3D printer with a syringe-based, large volume extruder (LVE). The extruder works with most open-source fused deposition modeling (FDM) printers.

Shape-Shifting Material Morphs Using Heat and Light

TBMG-336061/1/2019

A controllable material was developed that can transform into complex, pre-programmed shapes via light and temperature stimuli, allowing it to morph into a different shape before fully reverting to its original form. The ability to form materials that can repeatedly oscillate back and forth between two independent shapes by exposing them to light could enable applications in additive manufacturing, robotics, and biomaterials.

Effects of Surface Preparation on Medical Silicone Adhesive Performance

TBMG-3345312/1/2018

Medical device manufacturers often use silicone adhesives to bond parts together when assembling products such as catheters, pacemakers, cochlear implants, aesthetic implants, and gastric balloons. In addition to evaluating the different types of adhesive formulations, device manufacturers also need to critically assess several other factors in the adhesion process, including the substrates to be bonded, their surface energy, and even the overall device manufacturing process. Without addressing these factors early in the design process, medical device manufacturers risk costly delays and potential device manufacturing issues.

Biomaterials with “Frankenstein Proteins” Help Heal Tissue

TBMG-3345012/1/2018

Biomedical engineers from Duke University and Washington University in St. Louis have demonstrated that, by injecting an artificial protein made from a solution of ordered and disordered segments, a solid scaffold forms in response to body heat, and in a few weeks seamlessly integrates into tissue.

3D-Printed Biomaterials Degrade on Demand

TBMG-297077/1/2018

Stereolithography — a method of 3D printing — uses an ultraviolet laser controlled by a computer-aided design system to trace patterns across the surface of a photoactive polymer solution. The light causes the polymers to link together, forming solid 3D structures from the solution. The tracing process is repeated until an entire object is built from the bottom up. Stereolithographic printing usually uses photoactive polymers that link together with covalent bonds, which are strong, but irreversible.

Simple Method Developed for 3D Biofabrication Based on Bacterial Cellulose

TBMG-291016/1/2018

Bacterial cellulose (BC) nanofibers are promising building blocks for the development of sustainable materials with the potential to outperform conventional synthetic materials. BC, one of the purest forms of nanocellulose, is produced at the interface between the culture medium and air, where the aerobic bacteria have access to oxygen. Biocompatibility, biodegradability, high thermal stability, and mechanical strength are some of the unique properties that facilitate BC adoption in food, cosmetics, and biomedical applications including tissue regeneration, implants, wound dressing, burn treatment, and artificial blood vessels.

Scientists Develop Elastic Metal Rods to Treat Scoliosis

TBMG-290655/1/2018

National University of Science and Technology MISIS Moscow, Russia

Control for Molecular Machines

TBMG-288174/1/2018

Scientists around the world are working on new technologies for the nanofactories of the future, which one day could be used to analyze biochemical samples or produce active medical agents. The required miniature machines can already be produced costeffectively using the DNA-origami technique.

Key Factors for Choosing Silicone Solutions in Medical Device Lubrication

TBMG-287524/1/2018

In working with various medical equipment such as needles, syringes, trocars, cannulas, guide-wires, catheters, and valves, medical device designers must account for friction in the form of insertion, drag, and break-loose forces. A biocompatible silicone lubricant can significantly reduce friction at interfaces between components and between components and human tissue.

Squirtable Surgical Glue Could Transform Surgeries and Save Lives

TBMG-285213/1/2018

Sutures and staples are the traditional methods for closing surgical incisions and wounds in emergency situations. However, these methods can be inadequate in complex surgeries and cannot make an airtight or liquid-tight seal on a lung or artery wound or incision. Now researchers funded by the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB) have created a surgical glue that is squirted onto wounds and then sets to form an elastic airtight or liquid-tight seal in just one minute. Successfully tested in animals, the sealant has enormous promise for life-saving use in humans.

Hydrogels Release Therapeutics in Response to Environmental Triggers

TBMG-282861/24/2018

Scientists have built and tested a new biomaterial-based delivery system — known as a hydrogel — that will encase a desired cargo and dissolve to release its freight only when specific physiological conditions are met.

Dental Material Resists Plaque, Kills Microbes

TBMG-2819912/27/2017

Researchers have evaluated a new dental material tethered with an antimicrobial compound that not only kills bacteria but also resists biofilm growth. In addition, unlike some drug-infused materials, it is effective with minimal toxicity to the surrounding tissue, as it contains a low dose of the antimicrobial agent that kills only the bacteria that come in contact with it.

Stronger Silk Offers Biomedical Applications

TBMG-2790711/15/2017

Engineers have found they can make a material that is more than twice as stiff as its natural counterpart and can be shaped into complex structures such as meshes and lattices.

3D-Printing Materials Offer Safer Option for Wound Care

TBMG-2784311/1/2017

Cellulose nanofibrils have properties that can improve the characteristics of bio-based 3D printing pastes. VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland is developing a 3D wound care product for monitoring wound conditions in hospitals.

Medical Plastics: Meeting Today’s Changing Requirements

TBMG-264272/1/2017

Today’s medical device designers and OEMs are challenged to meet a wide, and sometimes conflicting, range of requirements. These targets stem not only from regulatory restrictions, but are equally likely to arise based on market perceptions, pressures to contain costs, and the changing materials supply landscape.

Researchers Create Customized Proteins from 'Bacterial Builders'

TBMG-2596211/20/2016

Researchers from Wyss Institute have revealed a scalable method for building biomaterials from protein structures known as "amyloids." Ongoing work in the lab will focus on fabricating a wide variety of materials, including hydrogels that can interface with the body.

3D Textile Engineering

TBMG-2595011/1/2016

Secant Medical, Telford, PA, has developed 3D textile engineering technology by integrating traditional textile engineering with advanced biomaterials. By combining the spatial resolution capability with advanced bioresorbable polymers, the company uses its proprietary bioelastomer Regenerez® to assist in enhancing the biomechanical properties of these 3D structures. This technology transforms a simple, synthetic textile into an elastomeric scaffold, which provides for a broad range of bioresorbable polymers for the structural design. The company has begun development of an anatomical scaffold prototype based on the trachea. The 3D textile engineered trachea scaffold demonstrates the precision of creating 20 Cshaped rings stacked along the length of the prototype with narrow, flexible regions spaced in between to mimic the natural bioarchitecture of the trachea.

Salt-Measuring Sensor Spots Early Signs of Cystic Fibrosis

TBMG-254519/25/2016

Biomaterials scientists from Penn State, University Park, PA, have developed a new, inexpensive method for detecting salt in sweat or other bodily fluids. The fluorescent sensor, derived from citric acid molecules, is highly sensitive and highly selective for chloride, the key diagnostic marker in cystic fibrosis.

Bio-Based Composites and Their Applications for Auto Interior Parts

2016-01-05124/5/2016

Polylactide (PLA), which is one of the most important biocompatible polyesters that are derived from annually renewable biomass such as corn and sugar beets, has attracted much attention for automotive parts application. The manufacturing method of PLA is the ring-opening polymerization of the dimeric cyclic ester of lactic acid, lactide. For the PLA composites including stereocomplexed with L- and D-PLA, we developed the unit processes such as fermentation, separation, lactide conversion, and polymerization. We investigated D-lactic acid fermentation with a view to obtaining the strains capable of producing D-lactic acid, and through catalyst screening test for polycondensation and depolymerization reactions, we got a new method which shortens the whole reaction time of lactide synthesis step. Poly(d-lactide) is obtained from the ring-opening polymerization of d-lactide. Also we investigated several catalysts and polymerization conditions. Finally, we got the best catalyst system and

Hong, Chae-Hwan

Researchers Print Lifelike Ear Models

TBMG-2312512/1/2015

Children with under-formed or missing ears can undergo surgeries to fashion a new ear from rib cartilage. Aspiring surgeons, however, lack lifelike practice models. A University of Washington otolaryngology resident and bioengineering student 3D-printed a low-cost pediatric rib cartilage model that more closely resembles the feel of real cartilage and allows for realistic surgical practice.

New Lasers Offer 3D Micropatterning of Biocompatible Silk Hydrogels

TBMG-2309612/1/2015

Tufts University biomedical engineers are using low-energy, ultrafast laser technology to make high-resolution, 3D structures in silk protein hydrogels. The laser-based micropatterning represents a new approach to customized engineering of tissue and biomedical implants.

Mouth Guard Detects Key Diabetes Marker

TBMG-22903

9/1/2015

Engineers at the University of California, San Diego, have developed a mouth guard that monitors health markers, such as lactate, cortisol, and uric acid, in saliva. The information can then be wirelessly transmitted to a smartphone, laptop, or tablet.

Researchers Develop Biodegradable Wooden Computer Chips

TBMG-223596/17/2015

Portable electronics — typically made of non-renewable, non-biodegradable and potentially toxic materials — are discarded at an alarming rate in consumers' pursuit of the next best electronic gadget. In an effort to alleviate the environmental burden of electronic devices, a team of University of Wisconsin-Madison researchers has collaborated with researchers in the Madison-based U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Products Laboratory (FPL) to develop a surprising solution: a semiconductor chip made almost entirely of wood.

Regenerating the Future of Biomaterials in Orthopedics

TBMG-20717

10/2/2014

Musculoskeletal ailments are a primary cause of disability in the United States. As reported by the United States Bone and Joint Initiative (), with a nearly $950-million burden weighing on the healthcare system, there is a considerable and growing need for advanced treatments for a variety of orthopedic conditions, especially as patients continue to desire to maintain an active lifestyle well into their golden years.

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