New bio-resin could enable truly circular 3D printing

Described in the journal Nature, the photopolymer resin uses a feedstock derived from lipoic acid, a naturally occurring fatty acid molecule commonly sold as a dietary supplement. The Birmingham team made a combination of two monomers from the lipoic acid from which they were able to make a resin that could be recycled either back into the monomers, or back to the original molecule for recycling.

As part of the study, the researchers completed two printing ‘recycles’ with the material but anticipate that further recycles would be possible. Reprinting the resin requires the addition of just a small amount of photoinitiator to maintain the material’s curable properties.

“Our approach is an important step away from relying on 3D-printable resins made from petrochemicals, which cannot be efficiently recycled,” said lead researcher Professor Andrew Dove, from Birmingham’s School of Chemistry.

“While we still have improvements to make to the properties of the new resin, this research opens up exciting new avenues for development.”