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 ...
Researchers in the U.K. are out to make the lives of money and document counterfeiters harder. They have created intensely colored polymers, where the colors come from the structure of the polymers and not any pigments. The chemistry of the polymers makes them harder to copy in paper money and passports.
The University of Sheffield researchers got the colored polymers by giving them highly ordered structures. As they reported in their research paper, they made these intricate polymers with block copolymers, which are composed of two different polymers.
When the researchers mixed block copolymers together, the polymers spontaneously organized themselves into layers and produced any color found in the rainbow (Roy G. Biv, anyone?) from two non-colored solutions. The color was the product of optical effects that changed with the angle at which it was viewed.
The complex chemistry in blending the polymers means counterfeiters will have trouble accurately reproducing them. Media relations officer at the University of Sheffield Shemina Davis quotes one of the researchers:
Dr Andrew Parnell, from the University of Sheffield’s Department of Physics and Astronomy, said: ‘Our aim was to mimic the wonderful and funky coloured patterns found in nature, such as Peacock feathers. We now have a painter’s palette of colours that we can choose from using just two polymers to do this. We think that these materials have huge potential to be used commercially.’
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