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MIT researchers develop rapid 3D printing process with liquid metal

2024-01-30T12:40:00-05:00

News is circulating about a novel method for 3D printing liquid metals that was developed by researchers working at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Self-Assembly Lab.

The invention can print furniture-sized components using molten aluminum and a ceramic nozzle graphite printer. They say their discovery works without re-melting the recycled materials, as is the case with many current technologies. It resembles a small furnace into which book-sized blocks of the material are fed. The technique, called liquid metal printing (LMP), creates material that is durable enough to withstand CNC milling and other steps in the post-design delivery process.

Image credit: MIT Self-Assembly Lab

The hope now is to refine the technique to allow for more consistent and higher-resolution prints. Such rapid and deployable solutions could become an attractive choice for architectural designers looking to scale up development and building projects in the future.

Image credit: MIT Self-Asse...

Can "phytomining" help meet humanity's need for metals with less environmental destruction?

2020-03-02T15:30:00-05:00

On a plot of land rented from a rural village on the Malaysian side of the island of Borneo, the group has proved it at small scale. Every six to 12 months, a farmer shaves off one foot of growth from these nickel-hyper-accumulating plants and either burns or squeezes the metal out. After a short purification, farmers could hold in their hands roughly 500 pounds of nickel citrate, potentially worth thousands of dollars on international markets.

A thought-provoking report from Ian Morse of The New York Times highlights a burgeoning approach for harvesting necessary (and toxic) metals like nickel from soil through "hyper-accumulating" plants.

Morse checks in researchers from the University of Melbourne who are farming nickel-rich soils in Borneo using metal-absorbing plants that eat up the substance. Nickel is a key ingredient in a variety of electronic products and in building materials like stainless steel. The approach can extract metals from the soil directly with minimal processing and can potentially be used to clean up abandoned mining sites, as well.

Liquid metal discovery paves way for shape-shifting robots

2015-04-17T13:17:00-04:00

[Researchers at Tsinghua University] discovered that an applied electrical current causes the gallium alloy to drastically alter its shape. Changing the voltage applied to the metal allowed it to 'shape-shift' into different formations. When the current was switched off, the metal returned to its original drop shape. [...] they realized that bringing it into contact with a flake of aluminum caused a reaction creating hydrogen bubbles that allowed it to move of its own accord.

The metal alloy in question is made mostly of gallium, which is liquid at <30 degrees Celsius. Researchers think that the material could have profound implications for medical science, in particular the delivery of drugs into the blood stream. Professor Liu Jing, leader of the research team at Tsinghua University, believes the discovery could lead to a "robot for the veins".

See the material in action below: