When it comes to 3D printing, the sky is the limit. As 3D printing technology continues to advance, applications can be as far reaching as airplane and automobile parts to medical devices and even anatomically correct, biocompatible models. Although 3D printing technology is developing at a rapid pace, the technology itself is not new. It emerged in the 1980s as a means of creating rapid prototypes. In recent years the applications for 3D printed models have evolved with the available hardware, software, and printable materials. Evolving technology, paired with the creative and innovative minds of scientists, engineers, and physicians, has been the launching pad for developments within 3D printing technology specific to healthcare. One way 3D printing technology is poised to create better patient outcomes is in creating an anatomically and patient-specific models to aid in surgery and medical procedures. With the capability to 3D ...
Starch usually is too thick of a substance to make into fibers, but food scientists at Penn State have discovered a method that converts it into strands that could be used to make less expensive and more environmentally friendly bandages and paper products.
“There are many applications for starch fibers,” says Lingyan Kong, graduate student, food science, who worked on the research team, in a Penn State press release. “Starch is the most abundant and also the least expensive of natural polymers.”
Starch, a polymer typically found in corn, potatoes, arrowroot and other plants, and often thought of as cornstarch, is made of amylose and amylopectin. It does not easily dissolve in water, instead of becoming a gel or paste that is too thick to make into fibers. But the researchers solved that problem by adding a solvent that dissolved the starch but kept its molecular structure intact.
After adding the solvent, the food scientists use an electrospinning device that helps stretch the starch solution into fibers. The device sends a high-voltage electrical charge into the mixture to create a charge repulsion to overcome surface tension, which stretches the droplets of starch into long strands.
The fibers can be made using a range of amylose concentrations from 25% to 100%. Because starch is so abundant, it is less expensive than other materials currently used to form fibers, Kong says. For example, cellulose, typically derived from trees, and petroleum-based polymers are the most common sources of polymers. However, they both continue to increase in price, as well as present environmental challenges.
Kong says companies could modify their technique to scale the process for industrial uses. The starch fibers could be used to make toilet paper, napkins, bandages, and other medical dressings.
“Starch is easily biodegradable, so bandages made from it would, over time, be absorbed by the body,” Kong says. “So, you wouldn’t have to remove them.”
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