Zero Impact MUltifunctional 3D printed composite materials for biomedical and industrial applications in the next generation society

Abstract

This project is aimed to study the formulation, synthesis, and characterization of innovative sustainable, multifunctional, and 3D printable (via VAT photopolymerization: stereolithography (SLA) or digital light processing (DLP)) polymeric composite materials. The project is highly interdisciplinary and involves different branches of knowledge (material science and technology, computational engineering, applied medicine, and socio-economic studies) with a high level of interaction. The topic is new and appealing as it addresses three main pillars of innovation: 1)sustainability: intended as social, economic, and environmental as the raw materials will be sourced from organic wastes/biosource/recycled materials, 2)multifunctionality: the resulting smart composites will be able to perform additional specific functions to the primary one and 3)advanced manufacturing: the formulations will be selected to make the suitable resins for VAT printing. More specifically, the project intends to develop new formulations of photo-curable (thus VAT printable) polymers and composites, starting from natural or waste oils/resins, to achieve multifunctional materials by including specific fillers to the sustainable matrix. Supplementary specific functions, beyond the structural one, will be added. In particular, two different cases will be investigated: the addition of electrically conductive filler to obtain self-monitoring 3D printable materials and the addition of drugs/growth factors to produce bioactive structures. In the latter case, in-vitro and in-vivo tests will be carried out beyond all other characterizations for both neat polymers and composites.

The aim is to perform an innovative applicable pre-clinical study of the application of such materials to the realization of patient-personalized meshes in the Guided Bone Regeneration (GBR) surgical procedure, necessary to ensure long-term dental implants in those patients showing osseous defects as a result of trauma, aging or diseases. Self-monitoring materials, instead, have the ability to continuously measure the occurring stress/strain or damage, while providing in-service structural performance. They are excellent candidates to be used in Industry 4.0 scenarios for structural engineering applications. In this project, for the first time, sustainable carbonaceous thermosetting self-monitoring nanocomposites will be produced via VAT. For both types of materials, numerical simulations will be attempted using homogenization methods and multi-scale approaches. The project will be deployed in work packages (WPs), which will detail the operations needed to reach intermediate targets, in the frame of the main workflow, that concerns the formulation, 3D printing, and characterization of the samples; the in-vitro and in-vivo tests of the VAT printed new materials, the numerical analysis and the analysis of the socio-economic impact of the new materials.

Team di ricerca UNIBO

Nicholas Fantuzzi, Meral Tuna Eroglu, Qaderi

Partner di progetto

Tor Vergata, Cattolica Sacro Cuore, Parthenope, IPCB-CNR