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Sustainable 3D printing resins developed from plant-based materials

A team from the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya—BarcelonaTech (UPC) and the Institute of Chemical Research of Catalonia has developed polymeric resins derived from plant-based materials aimed at reducing 3D printing's reliance on fossil fuel-based resins. The research findings have been in RSC Applied Polymers.

The 3D printing industry is increasingly calling for resins made with renewable resources to advance more sustainable additive manufacturing technologies. To meet this challenge, researchers at the UPC and the Institute of Chemical Research of Catalonia (ICIQ) have developed new 3D polymeric resins from monomers obtained from several natural sources, including succinic acid—a compound found in foods such as corn and broccoli. In light-based 3D printing, resins must be liquid, solvent-free, and feature fast polymerization kinetics to be industrially viable.

This research, led by the UPC, was carried out in two stages. In the first, the polymeric resin was formulated using plant-based materials, in a process led by Elaine Armelin, a researcher of the Innovation in Materials and Molecular Engineering—Biomaterials for Regenerative Therapies (IMEM-BRT) group and a professor at the Barcelona East School of Engineering (EEBE). In the second, the ICIQ's Knowledge and Technology Transfer (ICIQ-KTT) and Industrial Projects area printed the resin, under the supervision of researcher Fernando Bravo.

Sustainable 3D printing

Research in this field is essential for promoting greener 3D printing technologies. The polymeric resins developed by the UPC and ICIQ team are derived from natural sources—succinic acid, malic acid and tartaric acid—which require only a single synthesis step to be converted into functional resins. These can then be used in digital light processing (DLP) or stereolithography (SLA) printers.

This work forms part of the Base-3D project, led by the CIM UPC. The project aims to advance additive manufacturing technologies by driving technological maturity and promoting their use across Catalan industry, operating theaters, companies and classrooms.

This is the second type of polymeric resin developed by the ICIQ and the UPC within the Base-3D project, through the Light3D cluster (project BASE3D: 001-P-001646), led by the LEITAT Technological Center. The first was a biodegradable polymer that demonstrated excellent performance in DLP printing.

Currently, the IMEM-BRT group is also researching soft biopolymers—such as alginate, chitosan and gelatin—as sustainable superabsorbent materials for applications in soils, batteries and polyelectrolytes for desalination cells.