3D-printable material can heal the body, build better robots and recover critical minerals - Tech Xplore

What the report says

Tech Xplore, in an article provided by the University of Texas at Austin, reported July 26 that UT Austin researchers have developed a 3D-printable material designed to imitate a key function of human tissue: selectively letting some molecules through while blocking others. The work was published in Nature Materials and involves a material made from tightly packed microscopic water droplets separated by thin membranes, creating structures that resemble the organization of cells in tissue.

According to the report, the team says the approach addresses speed and scale limits that have hindered earlier efforts to make small tissue-like materials useful for practical applications. Researchers used mixing and centrifuging methods to crowd billions of droplets together within minutes. Manish Kumar, a professor in UT Austin’s Cockrell School of Engineering, described the concept as similar to the way organs such as kidneys and intestines sort and transport ions and molecules.

The material can reportedly be tuned for different uses. Because it can be printed with biocompatible components and arranged like tissue, it may support future scaffolds for growing tissues or organs. The article also notes possible use in soft robotics, where flexible machines could operate in surgical, hazardous or difficult environments. By adding proteins, the researchers demonstrated ion-current behavior resembling nerve tissue, suggesting potential relevance to brain-inspired computing.

The report also highlights environmental applications. In one demonstration, a protein helped the material distinguish ammonium from other ions in wastewater, including municipal streams and water from oil and gas production. The researchers say this points to possible recovery or reuse of nutrients and critical minerals from wastewater. Aida Fica, listed as lead author, is credited with helping advance the scalable emulsion-based method.