FMRG: Digital Light Manufacturing for the Circular Economy

随着时间的推移，产品会发生变化，制造它们的过程也会发生变化。在世纪初，大多数消费品都是由天然纤维、木材、陶瓷和金属制成的。随着世纪的发展，石油基塑料成为大多数消费品的首选材料。在经济中取代石油基塑料是一项严峻的挑战，将可再生原材料转化为可回收产品至关重要。该项目的一个目标是从生物质糖合成单体（聚合物的构建单元）。 另一个目标是设计单体，使聚合物易于回收。第三个目标是展示一种数字光制造（DLM）工艺，使用这些单体生产高质量的3D打印部件。最终目标是使单体在产品中循环并返回单体，从而为材料创建循环路径，从而减少浪费。 此外，还将为K-12和公众观众开发互动活动，以展示循环材料流。将设计具有针对DLM的性能的化学可回收光聚合环烯烃树脂。形成可逆聚合物键的能力将指导单体设计。将基于聚酮酶（PKS）开发用于从可再生原料生物制造DLM单体的酶和微生物细胞。环烯烃树脂光聚合的DLM工艺将得到发展和改进。将共同开发光催化剂系统、树脂流变学和仪器，以数字化地制造由环状环烯烃树脂制成的精密零件。基于通过断层扫描重建的体积3D打印，将对硬3D打印产品和弹性3D打印产品的候选树脂配方打印的结构进行广泛的机械测试。3D打印环烯烃树脂的刚性、强度和断裂韧性将与领先的传统光聚合物树脂进行基准测试，以指导材料和工艺选择，并最大限度地发挥其对未来制造的影响。（ENG/CBET/CBE），合成系统与合成生物学计划（BIO/MCB/SSB）和化学催化程序该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

As products change over time, so do the processes that manufacture them. At the beginning of the twentieth century, most consumer goods were made from natural fibers, wood, ceramics, and metal. As the century progressed, petroleum-based plastics became the preferred materials for most consumer products. Replacing petroleum-based plastics in the economy is a serious challenge, and converting renewable raw materials to recyclable products is critical. One goal of this project is to synthesize monomers (the building blocks of polymers) from biomass sugars. Another goal is to design monomers that make polymers that are easy to recycle. The third goal is to demonstrate a digital light manufacturing (DLM) process that produces high-quality 3D-printed parts using those monomers. The ultimate objective is to cycle the monomers through the product and back to monomers, creating a circular path for the material, thereby reducing waste. Also, interactive activities will be developed for K–12 and public audiences to demonstrate the circular material flow. Chemically recyclable photopolymerizable cycloolefin resins with properties tailored for DLM will be designed. The ability to form reversible polymer bonds will guide monomer design. Enzymes and microbial cells for biomanufacturing DLM monomers from renewable feedstocks will be developed based on polyketide synthases (PKSs). DLM processes for photo-polymerization of cycloolefin resins will be developed and improved. Photocatalyst systems, resin rheology, and instrumentation will be co-developed to digitally manufacture precision parts from circular cycloolefin resins. An extensive suite of mechanical tests will be carried out on structures printed from candidate resin formulations for both hard and elastomeric 3D-printed products, based on volumetric 3D printing via tomographic reconstruction. The rigidity, strength, and fracture toughness of 3D-printed cycloolefin resins will be benchmarked against leading conventional photopolymer resins, to guide material and process selection and maximize their impact on future manufacturing.This project is jointly supported by the Cellular and Biochemical Engineering Program (ENG/CBET/CBE), the Synstems and Synthetic Biology Program (BIO/MCB/SSB) and the Chemical Catalysis Program (MPS/CHE/CAT).This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.