Reconfigurable material could be used for liquid electronics and chemical synthesis, among other applications
Scientists from the Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) have developed a way to print 3-D structures composed entirely of liquids. Using a modified 3-D printer, they injected threads of water into silicone oil — sculpting tubes made of one liquid within another liquid.
They envision their all-liquid material could be used to construct liquid electronics that power flexible, stretchable devices. The scientists also foresee chemically tuning the tubes and flowing molecules through them, leading to new ways to separate molecules or precisely deliver nanoscale building blocks to under-construction compounds.
The researchers have printed threads of water between 10 microns and 1 millimeter in diameter, and in a variety of spiraling and branching shapes up to several meters in length. What’s more, the material can conform to its surroundings and repeatedly change shape.
“It’s a new class of material that can reconfigure itself, and it has the potential to be customized into liquid reaction vessels for many uses, from chemical synthesis to ion transport to catalysis,” said Tom Russell, a visiting faculty scientist in Berkeley Lab’s Materials Sciences Division. He developed the material with Joe Forth, a postdoctoral researcher in the Materials Sciences Division, as well as other scientists from Berkeley Lab and several other institutions. They report their research March 24 in the journal Advanced Materials.
The material owes its origins to two advances: learning how to create liquid tubes inside another liquid, and then automating the process.
For the first step, the scientists developed a way to sheathe tubes of water in a special nanoparticle-derived surfactant that locks the water in place. The surfactant, essentially soap, prevents the tubes from breaking up into droplets. Their surfactant is so good at its job, the scientists call it a nanoparticle supersoap.
The supersoap was achieved by dispersing gold nanoparticles into water and polymer ligands into oil. The gold nanoparticles and polymer ligands want to attach to each other, but they also want to remain in their respective water and oil mediums. The ligands were developed with help from Brett Helms at the Molecular Foundry, a DOE Office of Science User Facility located at Berkeley Lab.
In practice, soon after the water is injected into the oil, dozens of ligands in the oil attach to individual nanoparticles in the water, forming a nanoparticle supersoap. These supersoaps jam together and vitrify, like glass, which stabilizes the interface between oil and water and locks the liquid structures in position.
“This stability means we can stretch water into a tube, and it remains a tube. Or we can shape water into an ellipsoid, and it remains an ellipsoid,” said Russell. “We’ve used these nanoparticle supersoaps to print tubes of water that last for several months.”
Next came automation. Forth modified an off-the-shelf 3-D printer by removing the components designed to print plastic and replacing them with a syringe pump and needle that extrudes liquid. He then programmed the printer to insert the needle into the oil substrate and inject water in a predetermined pattern.
“We can squeeze liquid from a needle, and place threads of water anywhere we want in three dimensions,” said Forth. “We can also ping the material with an external force, which momentarily breaks the supersoap’s stability and changes the shape of the water threads. The structures are endlessly reconfigurable.”
Learn more: Berkeley Lab Scientists Print All-Liquid 3-D Structures
The Latest on: All-Liquid 3-D Structures
[google_news title=”” keyword=”All-Liquid 3-D Structures” num_posts=”10″ blurb_length=”0″ show_thumb=”left”]
via Google News
The Latest on: All-Liquid 3-D Structures
- The Easy French Pancake I’ve Been Making for Over 20 Yearson May 16, 2024 at 6:00 am
Place 1 1/2 cups whole or 2% milk, 2 large eggs, 1 cup all-purpose flour, 1 pinch kosher salt, 1 tablespoon granulated sugar, and 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, if using, in a blender. Blend until smooth ...
- Cobra's 3D-printed Limit3d Ironson May 14, 2024 at 11:28 am
Cobra has used 3D printing to create pieces of putters for a few years and quietly 3D printing wedges for staff players like Rickie Fowler and Gary Woodland. However, the 500 sets of Limit3d irons are ...
- Finding the chink in coronavirus's armor—experiment reveals how the main protease of SARS-CoV-2 protects itselfon May 14, 2024 at 8:44 am
The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in millions of deaths. Despite an unparalleled collaborative research effort that led to effective vaccines and therapies being produced in record-breaking time, a ...
- How does ISRO's 3D-printed rocket compare with other international 3D rockets?on May 11, 2024 at 4:44 am
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) successfully carried out a critical test on a 3D-printed liquid rocket engine on Friday. This test marked a significant advancement in incorporating ...
- Another feather in ISRO’s cap! What is 3-D printed liquid rocket engine that India’s space agency successfully testedon May 11, 2024 at 12:37 am
The test, which took place on May 9, 2024, lasted for an impressive 665 seconds, demonstrating the reliability and durability of this new manufacturing approach. The engine tested is the PS4 engine ...
- AlphaFold 3 unlocks a new scientific era, mastering 'all of life's molecules'on May 9, 2024 at 1:31 am
Google DeepMind's groundbreaking new AI predicts not only the structure of proteins, ligands, DNA, RNA and "all of life's molecules," but how they'll interact. It promises a radical, revolutionary ...
- MIT spin-off Rapid Liquid Print raises $7M for 3D printingon May 7, 2024 at 1:30 pm
MIT spin-off Rapid Liquid Print has raised $7 million in funding for its novel liquid-based 3D printing technology.
- All About The 2024 Yamaha YZF-R1 Motorcycleon May 7, 2024 at 12:14 am
The 2024 model will use an iteration of the same CP4 998cc, liquid-cooled 4-cylinder DOHC engine that ... This "combines a gyro sensor and G-sensor accelerometer that measures all six axes of movement ...
- 3D Structures Challenge Wire Bond Inspectionon May 9, 2023 at 7:56 am
While some chips are assembled in such a way that all the wires are visible, some are so complex that even 2D X-ray won’t be enough, said Viklund. “If you have eight levels of wire loops on top of ...
via Bing News