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Additive Manufacturing of Lignocellulosic Aerogels from Minimally Processed Waste Streams.
Matteo Hirsch1, Kosuke Ayama1, Gert Preegel2
1Sustainable Materials Laboratory, Institute of Materials, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Lausanne, 1015, Switzerland.
Small (Weinheim an Der Bergstrasse, Germany)
|July 25, 2025
Summary
Researchers developed printable lignocellulosic pastes for additive manufacturing. These novel cellulose-based inks create lightweight, load-bearing porous materials with excellent shape retention and thermal insulation properties.
Area of Science:
- Materials Science
- Biomaterials Engineering
- Additive Manufacturing
Background:
- Conventional cellulose nanomaterial isolation is harsh.
- Lignocellulosic pastes offer a milder alternative.
- Pastes have variable lignin content and heterogeneity.
Purpose of the Study:
- To showcase additive manufacturing of porous materials using lignocellulosic pastes.
- To investigate the rheological properties and printability of these pastes.
- To characterize the resulting 3D printed structures and their properties.
Main Methods:
- Preparation of lignocellulosic pastes with varying lignin content.
- Rheological investigation and printability assessment.
- Freeze-drying of printed structures and micro-computed tomography analysis.
Main Results:
- The pastes exhibit excellent printability, high resolution, and shape retention.
- Freeze-dried structures maintain 3D architecture without shrinkage.
- The porous scaffolds show mechanical strength comparable to cork and good thermal insulation.
Conclusions:
- Additive manufacturing of crude lignocellulosic inks enables precise fabrication of porous materials.
- The heterogeneity of the inks does not limit the properties of the final structures.
- This expands the applications of cellulosic inks in advanced manufacturing.
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