Master's in Design for Emergent Futures: Research, Design Experiments, & Interventions

BIO MATERIAL EXPLORATIONS
PHOTOS JULIA STEKETEE
Agar
Aliginate
3D PRINTING BIO-COMPOSITES | TERM 2
I collected spent beer grains from a local brewery, Freddo Fox and eggshells from my own home and a local
restaurant, LEKA. I dried and ground these waste materials into powders and mixed them with different
algal and plant based binders, agar, alginate, and xatana gum and water into a paste. I fed 3D printed
material samples using a 3D printer, adapted for printing paste. I altered the recipes in an iterative process,
adding glycerin (a natural plasticizer), calcium chloride orother natural additives such as salt and sugar to
achieve chemical bonds and different levels of strenghth and flexibility.
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