FMRG: Eco: CAS-Climate: Sustainable Manufacturing Using Living Organisms and Agriculturally Derived Materials

这项生态制造未来制造研究基金将产生知识，使基于3D打印的方法能够使用生物体（藻类、细菌和真菌）和农业衍生材料（生物质和玉米塑料）制造环保产品。与石油基塑料不同，农业衍生材料是可生物降解的，在这个星球上储量丰富。然而，它们被严重低估和滥用。例如，生物质通常被认为是固体废物，被降级为燃料或肥料，或被运往垃圾填埋场。受涉及活细胞结合和代谢生物质的生物系统的启发，该团队提出了一种新的制造方法，即利用活生物体结合农业衍生材料和使用活细胞桥接生物复合材料的3D打印产品。这些产品在包装、家具、建筑、甚至太空栖息地都有广泛的应用。新方法的广泛使用将使许多产品及其制造更加环保，创造国内与制造业相关的就业机会，并使用更多在美国现成的材料。此外，该项目还制定了一项综合教育和劳动力发展计划，通过各种活动培养未来的劳动力，例如开发使用生物体的生态制造的新课程和教科书，建立一个与生态制造相关的网站，让本科生参与研究，通过与两年制学院和行业合作提高劳动力技能，并对这些活动进行形成性和总结性评估。该项目旨在了解使用生物体和农业衍生材料的基于3D打印的制造方法的科学。核心假设是，通过先进的制造工艺调节生物体与农业衍生材料之间的相互作用，将导致可靠的可持续生物复合材料产品的制造。在这一假设的推动下，该团队将采用实验、理论和计算方法，系统地研究制造工艺对可打印性、细胞活力、物理特性、可回收性、可降解性的影响，并对使用生物复合材料制造的产品进行全生命周期分析。将考虑基于3D打印的新方法的整个制造生命周期，包括原料生产、服务和寿命结束，以及能源消耗、健康和环境影响以及成本效益。融合研究将由一个具有生物学、工程学和教育管理专业知识的团队进行，并与工业界合作。该未来制造奖由土木、机械和制造创新部、材料研究部、工程教育和中心部以及本科教育部支持。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，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。

This Future Manufacturing Research Grant in Ecomanufacturing will generate knowledge that enables 3D printing-based methods to manufacture environmentally friendly products using living organisms (algae, bacteria, and fungi) and agriculturally derived materials (biomass and corn plastics). Different from petroleum-based plastics, agriculturally derived materials are biodegradable and abundant on this planet. However, they have been grossly undervalued and misused. For example, biomass is generally considered solid waste that is downcycled to fire fuel or fertilizer, or shipped to landfills. Inspired by biological systems that involve living cells to bind and metabolize biomass, the team proposes a new manufacturing method by harnessing living organisms to bind agriculturally derived materials and 3D printing products using living-cell bridged biocomposites. These products have broad applications in packaging, furniture, construction, and even space habitats. The widespread use of the new method will make many products and their manufacturing more environmentally friendly, create domestic manufacturing-related jobs, and use more materials readily available in the United States. Additionally, the project has an integrated education and workforce development plan to train the future workforce through a variety of activities, such as developing a new course and textbook on Ecomanufacturing using living organisms, establishing a website related to Ecomanufacturing, involving undergraduate students in research, upskilling workforce through collaboration with 2-year colleges and industry, and conducting both formative and summative evaluations on these activities.The project aims to understand the science of 3D printing-based manufacturing methods using living organisms and agriculturally derived materials. The central hypothesis is that modulating interactions between living organisms and agriculturally derived materials via advanced manufacturing processes will lead to reliable manufacturing of products from sustainable biocomposites. Driven by this hypothesis, the team will take experimental, theoretical, and computational approaches to systematically study the effects of manufacturing processes on printability, cell viability, physical properties, recyclability, degradability, and full life-cycle analysis of the products manufactured using biocomposites. The entire manufacturing lifecycle of the new 3D printing-based method will be considered, including feedstock material production, service, and end-of-life, as well as energy consumption, health and environmental impact, and cost effectiveness. Convergence research will be performed by a team with expertise in biology, engineering, and educational administration, with collaboration from industry. This Future Manufacturing award was supported by the Division of Civil, Mechanical and Manufacturing Innovation, the Division of Materials Research, the Division of Engineering Education and Centers, and the Division of Undergraduate Education.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.