CANDYBOTS: A New Generation of 3D-Printed Sugar-Based Transient Small-Scale Robots

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Biocompatible Materials
• Additive Manufacturing

Background:

• Sugars are vital energy sources and structural components in nature.
• Their degradability and biocompatibility make sugars attractive for transient device applications.
• Additive manufacturing offers precise control over material properties and complex structure fabrication.

Purpose of the Study:

• To introduce an additive manufacturing approach for producing magnetic sugar-based composites.
• To demonstrate the feasibility of 3D printing sugar architectures with tunable properties.
• To fabricate and test a functional millimeter-scale sugar-based robot.

Main Methods:

• Selective laser sintering (SLS) was employed to 3D print sugar architectures.
• Laser energy was varied to control caramelization chemistry and mechanical properties.
• Mixtures of sugar and magnetic particles were processed into 3D composites.

Main Results:

• 3D sugar architectures were successfully fabricated using SLS, with tunable properties.
• Magnetic sugar-based composites were processed.
• A millimeter-scale helical swimmer capable of magnetic manipulation and rapid dissolution in water was demonstrated.

Conclusions:

• Additive manufacturing of magnetic sugar composites provides a novel route for creating transient devices.
• This technology enables the development of biocompatible, dissolvable robots for applications like targeted particle delivery.
• The method holds promise for future transient small-scale robots in minimally invasive procedures.